Abstract
African–American women have lower rates of breast cancer screening than Caucasian women. Discomfort during mammography may deter women from rescreening. Research to date has focused primarily on Caucasian women. This study examined mammography-associated discomfort among urban, low-income African–American women, and how discomfort influenced rescreening intentions. Using survey data from 530 urban African–American women aged 45 years and older, we assessed sociodemographic, psychological, and health-related predictors of pain or discomfort, and associations between pain or discomfort and intention for rescreening. Seventy-six percent of women reported discomfort; reasons included machine compression (96%), breast size (36%), stature (30%), and roughness by technicians (18%). Intention to rescreen within 2 years was significantly reduced with reporting any discomfort (OR 0.61; 95% CI: 0.38, 0.98), reporting two specific reasons—stature (OR 0.47; 95% CI: 0.31, 0.72) and technician roughness (OR 0.43; 95% CI: 0.26, 0.72), and attributing more sources for pain or discomfort (p for trend = 0.02). Most women reported discomfort; for some, this influenced intended adherence. Offering women the opportunity to control the amount of compression may reduce the pain associated with mammography and subsequently increase compliance.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Cancer Society: Cancer Facts & Figures 2003. American Cancer Society Inc., Surveillance Research
K Kerlikowske D Grady SM Rubin C Sandrock VL Ernster (1995) ArticleTitleEfficacy of screening mammography: a meta-analysis JAMA 273 149–154 Occurrence Handle10.1001/jama.273.2.149 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:ByqD1MjksFU%3D
N Breen L Kessler (1994) ArticleTitleChanges in the use of screening mammography: Evidence from the 1987 and 1990 National Health Interview Surveys Am J Public Health 84 62–67 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:ByuC3cnmvVE%3D Occurrence Handle8279613
EP McCarthy RB Burns SS Coughlin et al. (1998) ArticleTitleMammography use helps to explain differences in breast cancer stage at diagnosis between older black and white women Ann Intern Med 128 729–736 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DyaK1c3htlaltQ%3D%3D Occurrence Handle9556466
JR Dullum EC Lewis JA Mayer (2000) ArticleTitleRates and correlates of discomfort associated with Mammography Radiology 214 547–552 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD3c7jvVKktQ%3D%3D Occurrence Handle10671609
S Kashikar-Zuck FJ Keefe P Kornguth P Beaupre A Holzberg D Delong (1997) ArticleTitlePain coping and the pain experience during mammography: A preliminary study Pain 73 165–172 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0304-3959(97)00114-0 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DyaK1c%2FnsF2rtg%3D%3D Occurrence Handle9415502
PJ Kornguth FJ Keefe MR Conaway (1996) ArticleTitlePain during mammography: Characteristics and relationship to demographic and medical variables Pain 66 187–194 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0304-3959(96)03057-6 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:ByiD3srhvVA%3D Occurrence Handle8880840
FJ Keefe ER Hauck J Egert B Rimer P Kornguth (1994) ArticleTitleMammography pain and discomfort: A cognitive behavioral perspective Pain 56 247–260 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0304-3959(94)90163-5 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:ByuB1Mvhs1c%3D Occurrence Handle8022619
M Elwood B McNoe T Smith M Bandaranayake TC Doyle (1998) ArticleTitleOnce is enough-why some women do not continue to participate in a breast cancer screening program New Zeal Med J 111 180–183 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DyaK1czgsVCqug%3D%3D Occurrence Handle9640316
ME Keemers-Gels RPR Groenendijk JHM Heuvel C Boetes PGM Peer T Wobbes (2000) ArticleTitlePain experienced by women attending breast cancer screening Breast Cancer Res Treat 60 235–240 Occurrence Handle10.1023/A:1006457520996 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD3M%2Fjtl2isQ%3D%3D Occurrence Handle10930111
E Bruyninckx D Mortelmans M Van Goethem E Van Hove (1999) ArticleTitleRisk factors of pain in mammographic screening Soc Sci Med 49 933–941 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00181-1 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DyaK1Mzps1Gjsw%3D%3D Occurrence Handle10468397
M Van Goethem D Mortelmans E Bruyninckx et al. (2003) ArticleTitleInfluence of the radiographer on the pain felt during mammography Eur Radiol 10 2384–2389 Occurrence Handle10.1007/s00330-002-1686-6
PA Carney BG Harwood JE Weiss MS Eliassen ME Goodrish (2002) ArticleTitleFactors associated with interval adherence to mammography screening in a population-based sample of New Hampshire Women Cancer 95 219–227 Occurrence Handle10.1002/cncr.10681 Occurrence Handle12124819
MK Fine BK Rimer P Watts (1993) ArticleTitleWomen’s responses to the mammography experience J Am Board Fam Pract 6 546–555 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:ByuC3MzgtlM%3D Occurrence Handle8285093
JK Bobo D Dean C Stovall M Mendez L Caplan (1999) ArticleTitleFactors that may discourage annual mammography among low-income women with access to free mammograms: A study using multi-ethnic, multiracial focus groups Psychol Rep 85 405–416 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD3c%2Fnslyqtg%3D%3D Occurrence Handle10611770
AC Klassen ALM Smith HI Meissner JZ Zabora BA Curbow J Mandelblatt (2002) ArticleTitleIf we gave away mammograms, who would get them? A neighborhood evaluation of a no cost breast cancer screening program Prev Med 34 13–21 Occurrence Handle10.1006/pmed.2001.0956 Occurrence Handle11749092
LS Radloff (1977) ArticleTitleThe CES-D scale: A self report depression scale for research in the general population Appl Psych Meas 1 385–401
Stata Statistical Software: Release 7.0. College Station, TX: Stata Corporation, 1999.
DM Fergusson RD Goodwin LJ Horwood (2003) ArticleTitleMajor depression and cigarette smoking: results of a 21-year longitudinal study Psychol Med 33 1357–1367 Occurrence Handle10.1017/S0033291703008596 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD3srptVKmtg%3D%3D Occurrence Handle14672244
IC Scarinci J Thomas PJ Brantley GN Jones (2002) ArticleTitleExamination of the temporal relationship between smoking and major depressive disorder among low-income women in public primary care clinics Am J Health Promot 16 323–330 Occurrence Handle12192743
RF Anda DF Williamson LG Escobedo EE Mast GA Giovino PL Remington (1990) ArticleTitleDepression and the dynamics of smoking. A national perspective JAMA 264 1541–1545 Occurrence Handle10.1001/jama.264.12.1541 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:By%2BA28bmsF0%3D Occurrence Handle2395193
N Duan SA Fox KP Derose S Carson (2000) ArticleTitleMaintaining mammography adherence through telephone counseling in a church-based trial Am J Public Health 90 1468–1471 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD3cvktFGisg%3D%3D Occurrence Handle10983211
LB Ransdell (1995) ArticleTitleChurch-based health promotion: an untapped resource for women 65 and older Am J Health Promot 9 333–336 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:ByqA1c3ptlE%3D Occurrence Handle10150763
J Legler HI Meissner C Coyne N Breen V Chollette BK Rimer (2002) ArticleTitleThe effectiveness of interventions to promote mammography among women with historically lower rates of screening Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 11 59–71 Occurrence Handle11815402
AC Klassen HS Juon A Alberg (2003) ArticleTitleOpportunities for oral cancer screening among older African–American women Prev Med 37 499–506 Occurrence Handle10.1016/S0091-7435(03)00176-2 Occurrence Handle14572434
GW Eklund (1991) ArticleTitleMammography compression: Science or art? Diagn Imaging 13 131–140 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:By2K3c7ivVA%3D
PJ Kornguth BK Rimer MR Conaway et al. (1993) ArticleTitleImpact of patient-controlled compression on the mammography experience Radiology 186 99–102 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:ByyC3c7ot10%3D Occurrence Handle8416595
L Lechner H Vries N Offermans (1997) ArticleTitleParticipation in a breast cancer screening program: Influence of past behavior and determinants on future screening participation Prev Med 26 473–482 Occurrence Handle10.1006/pmed.1997.0161 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:ByiA1MvosFQ%3D Occurrence Handle9245669
I Ajzen (1991) ArticleTitleThe theory of planned behavior Organ Behav Hum Dec Process 50 179–211 Occurrence Handle10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Improving the quality of pain management through measurement and action; 2003. Available from: http://www.jcaho.org/news+room/health+care+issues/pain+mono_jc.pdf. Accessed September 15, 2004.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Support for this research was provided by investigator-initiated grant R01 CA066065 to Dr. Klassen from the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, and by funding to the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center from the Avon Products Foundation.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Papas, M.A., Klassen, A.C. Pain And Discomfort Associated With Mammography Among Urban Low-Income African–American Women. J Community Health 30, 253–267 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-005-3704-5
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-005-3704-5