Women prefer to receive their mammogram screenings annually rather than biennially because they believe it causes less anxiety, according to a study presented at RSNA 2017. Current guidelines issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommend patients get screened biennially, starting at the age of 50.

“Those recommendations were based in part of the anxiety caused by false positives as well as over-diagnosis,” lead author Ghizlane Bouzghar, MD, with the Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, said in a video interview. “However, the USPSTF as well as the American Cancer Society and the [American College of Radiology] still acknowledge the benefits of annual screening mammography in saving women’s lives. So they still actually give the option to be screened every year before the age of 50, but it’s not an actual recommendation.”

Bouzghar et al. sought to assess whether women preferred annual or biennial screening and if the reported harms—including over-diagnosis and false positives—influenced their screening preferences.

The authors surveyed more than 700 women and asked whether an abnormal mammogram or breast biopsy causes emotional harm, whether screening every two years was associated with an increase or decrease in anxiety, and if they preferred to have an annual or biennial screening mammogram.

Of the research cohort, 71 percent of women preferred annual screening. Family breast cancer history and prior breast biopsy were the only two variables to have an additional positive influence on annual screening preference. Only 17 percent of those surveyed felt having biennial screening would cause less anxiety. And of the patients who reported a prior abnormal mammogram, only 13 percent believe biennial screening would cause less anxiety.

Bouzghar noted that women understand yearly mammograms have been shown to save lives and do not consider previously reported harms to be as important as getting screened.

“In 2017 and going into 2018, women are empowered about many things, including their healthcare,” Bouzghar said in the same video interview. “I think there should be a discussion between the primary care physician and the woman regarding the new guidelines as well as the benefits of screening mammography, which will help women make their decision.”