Nearly 40% of women in their 40s would delay mammography screening after learning of its downsides

Nearly 40% of women in their 40s would delay the start of regular breast cancer screening after learning about some potential downsides, according to a new national survey published in the Annals of Internal Medicine [1]. In April, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that women begin mammography every other year starting at 40, instead of 50.

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Researchers surveyed nearly 500 women aged 39 to 49 with no history of breast cancer or gene mutations. After viewing a decision aid detailing the potential dangers of mammography, many changed their minds about when to start screening.

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“There are women in their 40s who would prefer to have mammography at an older age, especially after being informed of the benefits and harms of screening,” said lead author Laura D. Scherer, PhD, from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and colleagues. “Women who wanted to delay screening were at lower breast cancer risk than women who wanted screening at their current age. Many found information about the benefits and harms of mammography surprising.”

Before viewing the decision aid, about 27% of participants preferred to delay screening versus starting at their current age. This increased to 38.5% after viewing the aid, which highlighted overdiagnosis risk (12% to 22% of all screening-detected cancers). The number of women never wanting to undergo mammography remained stable, at 5.4% before viewing the aid and 4.3% afterward. Approximately 37.4% found the information about overdiagnosis surprising, 27.2% were surprised by the risk of false positives, and 22.9% by the benefits of screening.

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"These data suggest that many people who want to delay screening are considering the evidence and deciding that, for them, the harms outweigh the benefits at their current age," the authors concluded.

Read more about the study and its potential limitations in the official journal of the American College of Physicians at the link below.

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