Journal of Rural Medicine
Online ISSN : 1880-4888
Print ISSN : 1880-487X
ISSN-L : 1880-487X
Original Articles
The Current Status of and Issues Surrounding Breast Cancer Screening: A Clinical Survey and Patients' Awareness of the Benefits of Mammography
Koichi Tanaka, Yukifumi Kondo, Kuniaki Okada, Hiroyuki Ishizu, Hiroyuki Masuko, Tsunetake Hata, Toshitsugu Miki, Hideki Kawamura, Hideki Yamagami, Masaru Hagiwara, Shigenori Honma, Shinya Ueki, Keita Noguchi, Reiko Kobayashi, Sumie Suzuki
Author information
Keywords: breast cancer, breast cancer screening, mammography, clinical survey
JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2007 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 79-84

Details
Download PDF (75K)
Download citation RIS

(compatible with EndNote, Reference Manager, ProCite, RefWorks)

BIB TEX

(compatible with BibDesk, LaTeX)

Text
How to download citation
Contact us
Abstract

 Objective: The benefits of combining cancer screenings with clinical surveys have become increasingly obvious as cancer morbidity and mortality have steadily increased. This paper discusses a study on the current status of and issues surrounding breast cancer screening in a clinical survey. The study also investigated the patients' awareness of the benefits of breast cancer screening. A secondary aim of the study was to promote mammographic screening.
 Subjects and Methods: During the 72 months between April 1999 and March 2005, a total of 36,505 women underwent clinical surveys in our hospital. In October 2002, mammographic examination was included as an optional part of the routine physical examination. We evaluated the results of breast cancer screening with or without mammographic examination and used a questionnaire to investigate the patients' awareness of the benefits of breast cancer screening.
 Results: Compared with the pre-2001 results, the detection rate of breast cancer significantly increased after 2003 when physical examination was combined with mammographic examination. Our study also found that both elderly patients and those residing in the suburbs of Sapporo City tended to choose physical examination alone rather than combining it with mammographic examination. An analysis of the questionnaires collected from these patients indicates they had a poor understanding of and lacked awareness of the benefits of mammographic examinations during breast cancer screenings.
 Conclusions: The inclusion of mammographic screenings with clinical surveys was found to be significantly useful in the detection of breast cancer. Further continued education is needed for women, particularly the elderly and residents in the suburbs, so they understand the benefits of breast cancer screening by mammographic examination for the early detection of breast cancer and, consequently, decreased mortality of the disease.

Content from these authors
© 2007 by THE JAPANESE ASSOCIATION OF RURAL MEDICINE
Next article
Favorites & Alerts

Recently viewed articles
Share this page
feedback
 Top