Feature | March 02, 2015

Mayo Clinic survey finds race, income, education among factors influencing knowledge

Mayo Clinic, breast density, awareness, women's health, mammography

March 2, 2015 — Disparities in the level of awareness and knowledge of breast density exist among U.S. women, according to the results of a Mayo Clinic study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Breast density is the term used to describe the variation in dense tissue on a mammogram image. Fatty breast tissue appears more radiologically translucent than dense (fibroglandular) breast tissue. Regions of a breast that comprise fatty tissue will appear darker on a mammogram, while regions that comprise dense tissue appear whiter.

Increased breast density has been shown to mask cancers on the mammogram as well as to be associated with future risk of breast cancer. Recent legislation in several states mandates that women be given information about breast density in order to guide decisions about breast cancer screening.

Researchers conducted a national cross-sectional survey of 2,311 women ages 40 to 74 in English and Spanish. The survey response rate was 65 percent. Overall, more than half of women who responded (58 percent) had heard of breast density, 49 percent were aware that breast density affects breast cancer detection and 53 percent knew that breast density is associated with cancer risk.

When researchers examined the survey results for race and ethnicity, they found increased breast density awareness among white, non-Hispanic women relative to minority women. Increased awareness was also associated with women with higher household incomes, women with higher education, women who had received a diagnostic evaluation after a mammogram and women who received postmenopausal hormone therapy.

"The results of our study support the need for continued efforts to improve awareness of breast density and its implications on screening among women who are eligible for screening mammograms," says the study's lead author, Deborah Rhodes, M.D., a consultant in preventive medicine at Mayo Clinic.

Rhodes and colleagues also found that respondents from Connecticut were more likely than residents of other states to be aware of the potential masking effect of breast density on mammographic detection of cancer and were more likely to have discussed breast density with a healthcare provider. Connecticut was the first state to pass breast density legislation in 2009. To date, legislation mandating disclosure of breast density information has been passed in 21 states.

For more information: www.mayoclinic.org


Related Content

News | Breast Imaging

June 25, 2025 — QT Imaging Holdings, Inc., a medical device company engaged in research, development, and ...

Time June 25, 2025
arrow
News | Mammography

April 29, 2025 — iCAD, a global provider of clinically proven AI-powered cancer detection solutions, has announced a ...

Time April 29, 2025
arrow
News | Mammography

April 24, 2025 — GE HealthCare will feature its latest advancements in diagnostic accuracy and patient-centered breast ...

Time April 24, 2025
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

March 10, 2025 — Lunit, a provider of AI-powered solutions for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, has published a ...

Time March 10, 2025
arrow
News | Artificial Intelligence

Feb. 19, 2025 — SimonMed Imaging and HeartLung Technologies have signed a strategic partnership to offer HeartLung's AI ...

Time March 04, 2025
arrow
News | Ultrasound Imaging

Jan. 28, 2025 — GE HealthCare recently announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the United States Food and Drug ...

Time January 29, 2025
arrow
News | Breast Imaging

Jan. 8, 2025 — ScreenPoint Medical has acquiredf Biomediq A/S, a research-based company focused on the research ...

Time January 10, 2025
arrow
News | Breast Imaging

Dec.11, 2024 — iCAD, Inc., a provider of clinically proven AI-powered cancer detection solutions, recently announced ...

Time December 18, 2024
arrow
News | Mammography

Dec. 5, 2024 — At RSNA 2024, Lunit and Volpara Health announced their unified vision, focusing on a comprehensive ...

Time December 05, 2024
arrow
News | Mammography

Nov. 26, 2024 — GE HealthCare has introduced the Pristina Via* mammography system designed to enhance the screening ...

Time December 02, 2024
arrow
Subscribe Now