Patient and Clinician Characteristics That Predict Breast Cancer Screening Behavior in 40-49-Year-Old Women

Sarina Schrager1, Claudia Evaristo2, Terry Little3

  • 1University of Wisconsin Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Madison, WI.

Guidelines recommend that clinicians practice shared decision-making (SDM) with women in their 40s to discuss breast cancer screening. Traditionally, SDM includes discussion of values and preferences to help determine a decision that is congruent with what the patient desires. We analyzed 54 women's breast cancer screening decisions after a SDM conversation with their clinician. We looked at both patient and clinician characteristics that predicted whether or not a woman would get a screening mammogram. Women with a family history of breast cancer or who had a previous abnormal mammogram had higher rates of screening. Screening rates also varied widely between clinicians, raising the question of whether clinician attitudes impacted the SDM conversation.