Women 'need' breast screening support

Thursday November 10th, 2011

Women who do not go to breast screening say fear, anxiety and embarrassment are the main reasons, researchers said yesterday.

According to Julie Tucker, from Gateshead, UK, these reasons fail to explain fully why women do not go to breast screening.

She says there is evidence for big differences in rates of screening by GP surgery in areas of low deprivation.

Reporting to the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Liverpool, she said there was also evidence of ignorance of the disease amongst many women. Women did not know that risk increased with age - and had trouble naming more than two symptoms.

Ms Tucker, of the Gateshead Foundation Trust, said: “Our results show that more must be done to tackle the low uptake of screening and poor awareness of breast cancer symptoms.

"We must ensure that GPs, nurses and health professionals feel able to talk to women about the pros and cons of breast screening as well as what signs and symptoms they need to look out for.

"We also need to dispel some of the myths around breast cancer – it’s not a death sentence and more women are surviving this disease than ever before. This in turn will reduce women’s fear of the disease.

"The earlier breast cancer is diagnosed, the better the chance of survival so women shouldn’t be afraid of going to the doctor with symptoms or going for regular mammograms."

Tags: Cancer | NHS | Nursing & Midwifery| Women’s Health & Gynaecology

Printer friendly page