Questionnaire Survey on Breast Diagnostic Imaging Techniques: Subjective Impression of Mammography, Conventional Ultrasonography, and Automated Breast Ultrasonography

IntroductionIn Japan, mammography (MMG) has become the common practice for breast cancer screening. However, the proportion of women who undergo breast cancer screening remains low. We hypothesized that psychological problems especially pain, are the most important factors.PurposeTo investigate the effect of pain and other psychological factors on the willingness of women to undergo imaging examinations for breast cancer.Patients and MethodsBetween November 2007 and November 2008, we performed a questionnaire survey for women who had all undergone MMG, conventional ultrasonography (US), and automated breast ultrasonography (ABUS).ResultsWomen who felt the duration of the examination was “long” comprised 20.8% for MMG, 9.7% for US, and 11.1% for ABUS. Those who experienced pain during the examinations comprised 91.7% for MMG, 22.2% for US, and 27.7% for ABUS. Those who experienced discomfort other than pain during the examinations comprised 11.1% for MMG, 8.3% for US, and 5.6% for ABUS. The discomforts experienced were the following: direct touching of the breast by the examiner, male examiner performing the examination, maintaining the required position during MMG, and difficulty in wiping off the cream after US and ABUS. The preferred breast cancer screening methods were MMG in 25.0%, US in 69.4%, and ABUS in 75.0%.ConclusionThe pain experienced during an MMG examination may be related to the unwillingness to undergo future MMG examination. US is a method with less pain and also an alternative examination for women who do not accept MMG examination because of the pain.