News|Breast Density| March 30, 2022

New Findings Suggest That ‘One Size Does Not Fit All’ with Regard to Breast Density Education

Study is among the first to examine women’s preferences and experiences in receiving breast density information

Breast density notifications aim to educate women about the risks of high breast density, defined as having more fibroglandular tissue than fatty tissue, as visualized on a mammogram.

March 30, 2022 —Breast density notificationsaim to educate women about the risks of high breast density, defined as having more fibroglandular tissue than fatty tissue, as visualized on a mammogram. Prompted by activists whose own breast density had obscured breast cancers on their mammograms, 38 U.S. states and Washington, DC, have enacted legislation requiring written notification of a patient’sbreast density(DBN) after a mammogram and language for a federal notification is forthcoming from theU.S.A. Food and Drug Administration.

然而，这些通知是在投入有限的情况下制定的，没有对一般人口中的妇女进行广泛的测试，许多通知的识字率很高，往往与人口识字率不一致。Now a new study fromBoston University School of MedicineBUSM研究发现，女性对了解个人乳房密度的偏好各不相同，只与文化水平或种族/民族部分相关。

To explore women’s preferences with and experiences for receiving breast density information, the researchers conducted a national telephone survey of a large, diverse sample of American women and qualitative interviews with a subset of these women.

他们发现，大多数女性(80%)更喜欢从提供者那里了解个人乳房密度，非西班牙裔黑人(85%)的比例高于非西班牙裔白人(80%);非西班牙裔白人女性的比例高于亚裔女性(72%)。文化水平低的女性更不喜欢从提供者那里获得乳房密度信息(76%比81%)，更喜欢书面通知(21%比10%);识字率高的女性通常更喜欢通过在线门户学习(9%对3%)。
According to the researchers, these findings have implications for how health education materials regarding breast density are delivered. “Results show that the current breast density notifications may not meet the needs or preferences of all women, especially those with lower literacy or women of color.”

Kressin believes the findings support the importance of ensuring (through adequate elicitation of preferences and pre-testing with diverse audiences) that all populations receive health information in the way they desire and which will provide information to them in a way they can absorb, so as to inform future breast screening decisions.

For more information:https://www.bumc.bu.edu/