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A prospective study of the use and effects of screening mammography in women aged 70 and older.

ABSTRACT: To prospectively examine how age and comorbidity affect screening mammography use, cancer detection, and overall survival.Prospective, with median follow-up of 10.2 years.A population-based cohort of Vermont women with data in the Vermont Breast Cancer Surveillance System.Women aged 70 and older with no history of breast cancer (N = 20,697).Rates of screening, diagnostic procedure use, and breast cancer diagnosis were examined according to age and comorbidity. The effect of breast cancer on overall survival was assessed in relation to detection mode, tumor characteristics, and treatment.Screening declined 9% per year after age 70 and 18% with each unit increase in comorbidity score, with corresponding increases in clinically detected breast cancer. Invasive cancer was associated with greater overall mortality (screen detected: hazard ratio (HR) = 1.22, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.07-1.40; clinically detected: HR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.43-1.96). The latter HR reflects a much greater absolute risk of death for women in a population with high baseline mortality. Use of breast-conserving surgery as the only treatment for Stage I cancer increased markedly with age and was associated with shorter overall survival than radiation or mastectomy (relative risk = 2.23, 95% CI = 1.42-3.47).Lower screening mammography use by older women is associated with more clinically detected breast cancers, which are associated with poorer survival. Treatment received for early-stage cancer influences the effect of screening on survival.

SUBMITTER: Vacek PM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4300281 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A prospective study of the use and effects of screening mammography in women aged 70 and older.

Vacek Pamela M PM Skelly Joan M JM

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 20141223 1

<h4>Objectives</h4>To prospectively examine how age and comorbidity affect screening mammography use, cancer detection, and overall survival.<h4>Design</h4>Prospective, with median follow-up of 10.2 years.<h4>Setting</h4>A population-based cohort of Vermont women with data in the Vermont Breast Cancer Surveillance System.<h4>Participants</h4>Women aged 70 and older with no history of breast cancer (N = 20,697).<h4>Measurements</h4>Rates of screening, diagnostic procedure use, and breast cancer d ...[more]

PMID: 25537022

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Project description:Guidelines recommend individualizing screening mammography decisions for women aged 75 years and older. However, little pragmatic guidance is available to help counsel patients.To provide an evidence-based approach for individualizing decision-making about screening mammography in older women.We searched PubMed for English-language studies in peer-reviewed journals published from January 1, 1990, to February 1, 2014, to identify risk factors for late-life breast cancer in women aged 65 years and older and to quantify the benefits and harms of screening mammography for women aged 75 years and older.Age is the major risk factor for developing and dying from breast cancer. Breast cancer risk factors that reflect hormonal exposures in the distant past, such as age at first birth or age at menarche, are less predictive of late-life breast cancer than factors indicating recent hormonal exposures such as high bone mass or obesity. Randomized trials of the benefits of screening mammography did not include women older than 74 years. Thus it is not known if screening mammography benefits older women. Observational studies favor extending screening mammography to older women who have a life expectancy of more than 10 years. Modeling studies estimate 2 fewer breast cancer deaths/1000 women who in their 70s continue biennial screening for 10 years instead of stopping screening at age 69. Potential harms of continued screening over 10 years include false-positive mammograms in approximately 200/1000 women screened and overdiagnosis (ie, finding breast cancer that would not have clinically surfaced otherwise) in approximately 13/1000 women screened. Providing information about life expectancy along with potential benefits and harms of screening may help older women's decision-making about screening mammography.For women with less than a 10-year life expectancy, recommendations to stop screening mammography should emphasize increased potential harms from screening and highlight health promotion measures likely to be beneficial over the short term. For women with a life expectancy of more than 10 years, deciding whether potential benefits of screening outweigh harms becomes a value judgment for patients, requiring a realistic understanding of screening outcomes.

Project description:ObjectiveTo elicit informed views from Australian women aged 70-74 regarding the acceptability of ceasing to invite women their age to participate in government-funded mammography screening (BreastScreen).DesignTwo community juries held in 2017.SettingGreater Sydney, a metropolis of 4.5?million people in New South Wales, Australia.Participants34 women aged 70-74 with no personal history of breast cancer, recruited by random digit dialling and previously randomly recruited list-based samples.Main outcomes and measuresJury verdict and rationale in response to structured questions. We transcribed audio-recorded jury proceedings and identified central reasons for the jury's decision.ResultsThe women's average age was 71.5 years. Participants were of diverse sociocultural backgrounds, with the sample designed to include women of lower levels of educational attainment. Both juries concluded by majority verdict (16-2 and 10-6) that BreastScreen should continue to send invitations and promote screening to their age group. Reasons given for the majority position include: (1) sending the invitations shows that society still cares about older women, empowers them to access preventive health services and recognises increasing and varied life expectancy; (2) screening provides women with information that enables choice and (3) if experts cannot agree, the conservative approach is to maintain the status quo until the evidence is clear. Reasons for the minority position were the potential for harms through overdiagnosis and misallocation of scarce health resources.ConclusionsPreventive programmes such as mammography screening are likely to have significant symbolic value once they are socially embedded. Arguments for programme de-implementation emphasising declining benefit because of limited life expectancy and the risks of overdiagnosis seem unlikely to resonate with healthy older women. In situations where there is no consensus among experts on the value of established screening programmes, people may strongly prefer receiving information about their health and having the opportunity make their own choices.

Project description:BackgroundDecades of persuasive messages have reinforced the importance of traditional screening mammography at regular intervals. A potential new paradigm, risk-based screening, adjusts mammography frequency based on a woman's estimated breast cancer risk in order to maximize mortality reduction while minimizing false positives and overdiagnosis. Women's views of risk-based screening are unknown.ObjectiveTo explore women's views and personal acceptability of a potential risk-based mammography screening paradigm.DesignFour semi-structured focus group discussions about screening mammography and surveys before provision of information about risk-based screening. We analyzed coded focus group transcripts using a mixed deductive (content analysis) and inductive (grounded theory) approach.ParticipantsConvenience sample of 29 women (40-74 years old) with no personal history of breast cancer recruited by print and online media in New Hampshire and Vermont.ResultsTwenty-seven out of 29 women reported having undergone mammography screening. All participants were white and most were highly educated. Some women accepted the idea that early cancer detection with traditional screening was beneficial-although many also reported hearing inconsistent recommendations from clinicians and mixed messages from media reports about mammography. Some women were familiar with a risk-based screening paradigm (primarily related to cervical cancer, n?=?8) and thought matching screening mammography frequency to personal risk made sense (n?=?8). Personal acceptability of risk-based screening was mixed. Some believed risk-based screening could reduce the harms of false positives and overdiagnosis (n?=?7). Others thought screening less often might result in missing a dangerous diagnosis (n?=?14). Many (n?=?18) expressed concerns about the feasibility of risk-based screening and questioned whether breast cancer risk estimates could be accurate. Some suspected that risk-based mammography was motivated by a desire to save money (n?=?6).ConclusionSome women thought risk-based screening made sense. Willingness to abandon traditional screening for the new paradigm was mixed. Broad acceptability of risk-based screening will require clearer communication about its rationale and feasibility and consistent messages from the health care team.

Project description:BackgroundNo randomized, controlled trials of screening colonoscopy have been completed, and ongoing trials exclude persons aged 75 years or older. The Medicare program, however, reimburses screening colonoscopy without an upper age limit.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness and safety of screening colonoscopy to prevent colorectal cancer (CRC) in persons aged 70 to 74 and those aged 75 to 79 years.DesignLarge-scale, population-based, prospective study. The observational data were used to emulate a target trial with 2 groups: colonoscopy screening and no screening.SettingUnited States.Participants1 355 692 Medicare beneficiaries (2004 to 2012) aged 70 to 79 years at average risk for CRC who used Medicare preventive services and had no previous diagnostic or surveillance colonoscopies in the past 5 years.Measurements8-year risk for CRC and 30-day risk for adverse events.ResultsIn beneficiaries aged 70 to 74 years, the 8-year risk for CRC was 2.19% (95% CI, 2.00% to 2.37%) in the screening colonoscopy group and 2.62% (CI, 2.56% to 2.67%) in the no-screening group (absolute risk difference, -0.42% [CI, -0.24% to -0.63%]). Among those aged 75 to 79 years, the 8-year risk for CRC was 2.84% (CI, 2.54% to 3.13%) in the screening colonoscopy group and 2.97% (CI, 2.92% to 3.03%) in the no-screening group (risk difference, -0.14% [CI, -0.41 to 0.16]). The excess 30-day risk for any adverse event in the colonoscopy group was 5.6 events per 1000 individuals (CI, 4.4 to 6.8) in the 70- to 74-year age group and 10.3 per 1000 (CI, 8.6 to 11.1) in the 75- to 79-year age group.LimitationCRC-specific mortality was not available, but CRC incidence and stage were studied at diagnosis.ConclusionScreening colonoscopy may have had a modest benefit in preventing CRC in beneficiaries aged 70 to 74 years and a smaller benefit in older beneficiaries. The risk for adverse events was low but greater among older persons.Primary funding sourceNational Institutes of Health.

Project description:Guidelines recommend that women 75 years and older should be informed of the benefits and risks of mammography before being screened. However, few are adequately informed.To develop and evaluate a mammography screening decision aid (DA) for women 75 years and older.We designed the DA using international standards. Between July 14, 2010, and April 10, 2012, participants completed a pretest survey and read the DA before an appointment with their primary care physician. They completed a posttest survey after their appointment. Medical records were reviewed for follow-up information.Boston, Massachusetts, academic primary care practice. Eligible women were aged 75 to 89 years, English speaking, had not had a mammogram in 9 months but had been screened within the past 3 years, and did not have a history of dementia or invasive or noninvasive breast cancer. Of 84 women approached, 27 declined to participate, 12 were unable to complete the study for logistical reasons, and 45 participated.The DA includes information on breast cancer risk, life expectancy, competing mortality risks, possible outcomes of screening, and a values clarification exercise.Knowledge of the benefits and risks of screening, decisional conflict, and screening intentions; documentation in the medical record of a discussion of the risks and benefits of mammography with a primary care physician within 6 months; and the receipt of screening within 15 months. We used the Wilcoxon signed rank test and McNemar test to compare pretest-posttest information.The median age of participants was 79 years, 69% (31 of 45) were of non-Hispanic white race/ethnicity, and 60% (27 of 45) had attended at least some college. Comparison of posttest results with pretest results demonstrated 2 findings. First, knowledge of the benefits and risks of screening improved (P <?.001). Second, fewer participants intended to be screened (56% [25 of 45] afterward compared with 82% [37 of 45] before, P =?.03). Decisional conflict declined but not significantly (P =?.10). In the following 6 months, 53% (24 of 45) of participants had a primary care physician note that documented the discussion of the risks and benefits of screening compared with 11% (5 of 45) in the previous 5 years (P <?.001). While 84% (36 of 43) had been screened within 2 years of participating, 60% (26 of 43) were screened within 15 months after participating (? 2 years since their last mammogram) (P =?.01). Overall, 93% (42 of 45) found the DA helpful.A DA may improve older women's decision making about mammography screening.

Dataset Information

A prospective study of the use and effects of screening mammography in women aged 70 and older.

Publications

A prospective study of the use and effects of screening mammography in women aged 70 and older.

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