Breast Cancer Survey
● In a concerning revelation, around 44% of women do not know the signs of breast cancer
● Breast Cancer Awareness Survey finds that 92% OF Indian women want to know more about breast cancer prevention
National, October 17th, 2022: Momspresso.com, India’s largest content and influencer platform for women, conducted a survey around breast cancer awareness. Unveiling sombre results about the lack of knowledge about one of the most common malignancies among women globally, the platform found that 85% of females ( 90% in Delhi; 80% in Mumbai, 80% in Chennai, 83% in Kolkata) have not undergone a mammogram in the last 12 months.
Regular screening dramatically reduces breast cancer patients’ mortality rate by allowing early-stage identification of the disease. Yet, 64% of the women surveyed have not even considered getting a mammogram. What makes this finding even more worrisome is that 70% of Indian women know someone who has battled breast cancer.
The study results from Momspresso.com are backed by the fact that 13% of the 36% of women who had mammograms got breast cancer, demonstrating the need for frequent screening. With such a grim backdrop, 44% of Indian women still do not know the signs of breast cancer, with awareness levels at their lowest in Chennai (32%).
While campaigns and marathons display pink ribbons symbolic of breast cancer awareness, 24% of women feel that there should be more advertising around it. Creating more conversations about it must become a priority for women-focused brands, as 92% of women want to know more about breast cancer prevention.
Vishal Gupta, Co-founder & CEO Momspresso, said, “Momspresso.com is committed to the well-being of Indian women. We are hopeful that the survey’s findings will raise awareness of the need to learn about the symptoms of breast cancer and adopt preventative steps, such as getting regular mammograms.”
A recent Netflix series, The Bold Type, advocated the importance of routine breast cancer screenings and preventive measures available to women. Momspresso.com’s Breast Cancer Awareness survey calls for the Indian media and advertising segment to also increase its focus on signs, prevention, and treatment.
The research conducted by Momspresso HerSights, Momspresso.com’s research and insights division, surveyed 3060 women, 97% of whom belonged to the age group of 30-44 years. 65% of the respondents were non-working, whereas 35% worked as business owners, freelancers, employees, etc.
In a recent survey of nearly 2,000 women in their 40s who had no history of breast cancer, researchers found that over 38 percent of survey respondents said they had no reason to get a mammogram or had never thought about it.
Despite recommendations from the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Society of Breast Imaging (SBI) for annual mammography screenings to begin at the age of 40, new survey findings reveal significant gaps in screening for breast cancer.
Drawing data from the 2018 National Health Interview Survey, researchers reviewed survey results on mammography screening from 1,948 women between the ages of 40 to 49 who had no history of breast cancer. According to the survey results, recently published in Academic Radiology, 46.6 percent of the respondents had a mammogram in the past year and 61.4 percent said they had a screening exam in the past two years.
The study authors noted that over 38 percent of the survey respondents indicated they had no reason to have a mammography exam or never thought about having a mammogram. Nearly 17 percent of respondents said they didn’t need a mammogram and 5.3 percent noted they were too young to have a mammogram, according to the survey.
“Our study indicates that women between the ages of 40-49 years may not be receiving adequate information to assess the benefits and harms of screening mammography, as advised by (guidelines from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)), and may require additional support in making informed decisions about routine screening,” wrote study co-author Randy C. Miles, M.D., M.P.H., an associate professor of radiology at the University of Colorado, and colleagues.
The study authors noted that the strongest factor associated with not having a mammogram was a lack of health-care insurance. Noting possible factors ranging from language and cultural modesty to provider biases and religious beliefs, Miles and colleagues also found that non-Hispanic Asian women were less likely to have had a screening mammography in comparison to White women.
The researchers suggested that shared decision-making (SDM), which enables clinicians to have a supportive, consensus-building dialogue with patients to facilitate decisions emphasizing the best evidence, could have an impact in these populations. Miles and colleagues noted these discussions could raise awareness about health-care knowledge and financial issues for disadvantaged women, and interventions that address potential cultural issues may help address screening rates among Asian women.
“Targeted interventions encouraging SDM that take cultural and family factors into account among Asian subgroups will be needed to increase screening engagement among this patient population,” added Miles and colleagues.
In regard to limitations of the retrospective study, the authors acknowledged the self-reported data may have led to overestimating of adherence with mammogram screening, They also noted the survey did not question the survey respondents on differences in breast cancer screening guidelines.
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