Perception of Breast Cancer Risk in Over 11,000 Patients During Routine Mammography Exam

The accuracy of breast cancer risk self-assessment does not correlate with knowledge about breast cancer and knowledge and attitudes towards primary chemoprevention

“…Although most of the Croatian women perceived their BC risk accurately (71% in total), the emphasis should be on a high-risk group who mostly underestimated their risk (72%) and appear to be unrealistically optimistic. These findings are consistent with those reported in the literature data about paradoxical subsets of women unaware of their high-risk ( Kartal et al, 2014 , Katapodi et al, 2010 , Abittan et al, 2019 , Spector et al, 2009 ), in which primary and secondary prevention actions would be even more significant. The reasons and explanation for this optimistic bias need to be thoroughly explored in order to advance preventive behavior ( Iwuji et al, 2014 ).…”

“…On the contrary, the overestimation of BC risk results in unnecessary diagnostic procedures, needless interventions and anxiety ( Xie et al, 2019 , Speiser et al, 2019 , de Jonge et al, 2009 , Davids et al, 2004 , Alexander et al, 1996 ). Accurate calculation and perception of personal BC risk are a critical part of primary and secondary BC prevention ( de Jonge et al, 2009 , Abittan et al, 2019 , Metcalfe and Narod, 2002 ).…”

The current status of risk-stratified breast screening

“…In order to accept screening strategies tailored to individual risk, women need to be able to access and comprehend accurate risk estimations [ 118 – 120 ], and indeed, many women are interested to understand and discuss their risk [ 90 , 101 , 102 , 121 , 122 ]. Risk communication and risk perception are multifaceted and complex [ 119 ], yet it is striking that as few as 10% of women have accurate perceptions of personal risk with an otherwise roughly even split between under- and over-estimators [ 123 , 124 ]. The variable use of absolute and relative risks can have major influences on screening intentions or in some cases be misleading [ 125 ].…”