Screening mammography; anxiety and pain associated, an experience at Benazir Bhutto hospital

ABSTRACT

Worry about risk for breast cancer and pain are associated with mammography use. Both have been found to be a barrier to mammography use by women. To examine the anxiety and pain associated with mammography use in a sample of women stratified according to breast cancer risk. This prospective observational study. Department of Obstetric and Gynecology, Benazir Bhutto Hospital. August 2011 to June 2012. Patients and Women awaiting screening mammography in the reception area were asked to complete a questionnaire containing demographics for calculation of breast cancer risk and the Likert scale for anxiety before the procedure and VAS for assessment of pain after the procedure. Our study included 100 women undergoing screening mammography with an average age of 53.9 +/- 8.8 years. 15% were classified "higher risk" by the Gail model. The average anxiety level was 4.03 +/- 1.3 on Likert scale and average pain during the procedure was 3.3 +/- 2.18 on VAS. Significant differences [p<0.05] were found between average and higher risk groups. The population of women in this sample appears to have a level of breast cancer worry and procedure related pain that is proportional with their risk for developing breast cancer