Most Canadian women confused about mammography

Seven out of 10 (68%) of Canadian women say they are confused by conflicting information about screening mammography, according to a poll conducted by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (CBCF).

And 42% say they don't know whether the benefits of breast cancer screening outweigh the risks, the national Ipsos Reid survey found. CBCF released the survey results April 24 to mark the launch of its new social media site, www.facebook.com/mybreastmytest.

Of the Canadian women who participated, the survey found the following:

• 5% agreed there is "a lot of contradictory information out there about breast cancer screening."
• 71% said they are "sometimes confused about what is true and what is not when it comes to breast cancer screening."
• 45% questioned whether they should get screened at all, based on the conflicting information they've seen.
• 84% said they would always choose a screening test that never misses a cancer but 1 in 10 tests are false alarms, and only 16% favored a test that misses 1 in 3 cancers but causes no false alarms.
• 41% said they are more confused about mammography than they were five years ago.

CBCF's new social site invites women to share their experiences and concerns, as well as ask questions about mammography screening. The foundation also plans to post updated evidence-based information about screening and early detection as it becomes available, it said.