Women’s conceptual knowledge about breast cancer screening and overdiagnosis in Norway: a cross-sectional study

Objective To investigate conceptual knowledge about mammographic screening among Norwegian women.Design We administered a cross-sectional, web-based survey. We used multiple-choice questions and a grading rubric published by a research group from Australia.Setting Our Norwegian-language survey was o...

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Main Authors: Nehmat Houssami, Solveig Hofvind, Marit B Veierød, Kaitlyn M Tsuruda, Gunvor G Waade, Gunhild Mangerud
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2021-12-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e052121.full
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author Nehmat Houssami
Solveig Hofvind
Marit B Veierød
Kaitlyn M Tsuruda
Gunvor G Waade
Gunhild Mangerud
author_facet Nehmat Houssami
Solveig Hofvind
Marit B Veierød
Kaitlyn M Tsuruda
Gunvor G Waade
Gunhild Mangerud
author_sort Nehmat Houssami
collection DOAJ
description Objective To investigate conceptual knowledge about mammographic screening among Norwegian women.Design We administered a cross-sectional, web-based survey. We used multiple-choice questions and a grading rubric published by a research group from Australia.Setting Our Norwegian-language survey was open from April to June 2020 and targeted women aged 45–74 years.Participants 2033 women completed our questionnaire. We excluded 13 women outside the target age range and 128 women with incomplete data. Responses from 1892 women were included in the final study sample.Primary and secondary outcome measures The questionnaire focused on women’s knowledge about the breast cancer mortality reduction, false positive results and overdiagnosis associated with mammographic screening. The primary outcome was the mean number of marks assigned in each of the three themes and overall. There were three potential marks for questions about breast cancer mortality, one for false positives and six for overdiagnosis.Results Most women (91.7%) correctly reported that screened women are less likely to die of breast cancer than non-screened women. 39.7% of women reported having heard of a ‘false positive screening result’ and 86.2% identified the term’s definition; 51.3% of women had heard of ‘overdiagnosis’ and 14.8% identified the term’s definition. The mean score was 2.59 of 3 for questions about breast cancer mortality benefit and 0.93 of 1 for the question about false positive screening results. It was 2.23 of 6 for questions about overdiagnosis.Conclusions Most participants correctly answered questions about the breast cancer mortality benefit and false positive results associated with screening. The proportion of correct responses to questions about overdiagnosis was modest, indicating that conceptual knowledge about overdiagnosis was lower. Qualitative studies that can obtain in-depth information about women’s understanding of overdiagnosis may help improve Norwegian-language information about this challenging topic.
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spelling doaj-art-e6ffa9e8c77a4e99b045278438214d862024-12-10T18:55:11ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552021-12-01111210.1136/bmjopen-2021-052121Women’s conceptual knowledge about breast cancer screening and overdiagnosis in Norway: a cross-sectional studyNehmat Houssami0Solveig Hofvind1Marit B Veierød2Kaitlyn M Tsuruda3Gunvor G Waade4Gunhild Mangerud5The Daffodil Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, AustraliaDepartment of Breast Cancer Screening, Cancer Registry of Norway, Oslo, NorwayOslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Breast Cancer Screening, Cancer Registry of Norway, Oslo, NorwayDepartment of Health Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, NorwayadvisorObjective To investigate conceptual knowledge about mammographic screening among Norwegian women.Design We administered a cross-sectional, web-based survey. We used multiple-choice questions and a grading rubric published by a research group from Australia.Setting Our Norwegian-language survey was open from April to June 2020 and targeted women aged 45–74 years.Participants 2033 women completed our questionnaire. We excluded 13 women outside the target age range and 128 women with incomplete data. Responses from 1892 women were included in the final study sample.Primary and secondary outcome measures The questionnaire focused on women’s knowledge about the breast cancer mortality reduction, false positive results and overdiagnosis associated with mammographic screening. The primary outcome was the mean number of marks assigned in each of the three themes and overall. There were three potential marks for questions about breast cancer mortality, one for false positives and six for overdiagnosis.Results Most women (91.7%) correctly reported that screened women are less likely to die of breast cancer than non-screened women. 39.7% of women reported having heard of a ‘false positive screening result’ and 86.2% identified the term’s definition; 51.3% of women had heard of ‘overdiagnosis’ and 14.8% identified the term’s definition. The mean score was 2.59 of 3 for questions about breast cancer mortality benefit and 0.93 of 1 for the question about false positive screening results. It was 2.23 of 6 for questions about overdiagnosis.Conclusions Most participants correctly answered questions about the breast cancer mortality benefit and false positive results associated with screening. The proportion of correct responses to questions about overdiagnosis was modest, indicating that conceptual knowledge about overdiagnosis was lower. Qualitative studies that can obtain in-depth information about women’s understanding of overdiagnosis may help improve Norwegian-language information about this challenging topic.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e052121.full
spellingShingle Nehmat Houssami
Solveig Hofvind
Marit B Veierød
Kaitlyn M Tsuruda
Gunvor G Waade
Gunhild Mangerud
Women’s conceptual knowledge about breast cancer screening and overdiagnosis in Norway: a cross-sectional study
BMJ Open
title Women’s conceptual knowledge about breast cancer screening and overdiagnosis in Norway: a cross-sectional study
title_full Women’s conceptual knowledge about breast cancer screening and overdiagnosis in Norway: a cross-sectional study
title_fullStr Women’s conceptual knowledge about breast cancer screening and overdiagnosis in Norway: a cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed Women’s conceptual knowledge about breast cancer screening and overdiagnosis in Norway: a cross-sectional study
title_short Women’s conceptual knowledge about breast cancer screening and overdiagnosis in Norway: a cross-sectional study
title_sort women s conceptual knowledge about breast cancer screening and overdiagnosis in norway a cross sectional study
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e052121.full
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