Women's misconceptions about cancer screening: implications for informed decision-making

Informed decision-making about cancer screening requires that patients have a correct understanding of a test's purpose, benefits, and risks. Misconceptions, however, may be common. Semi-structured interviews were carried out and thematically coded using a purposive sample of 24 socioeconomically diverse white, African American, Latino and Chinese American women recruited from general medicine practices and community settings. Interviews focused on participants ideas related to cancer prevention and screening. Women expressed cancer-related beliefs characterized by inaccuracies, distortions, and over-simplifications. Many of these beliefs may go unrecognized in clinical settings yet have a profound influence on risk communication and, therefore, informed decision-making. Effective communication depends, first, on clinicians and patients sharing an accurate understanding of background concepts such as “prevention,” “screening,” and “cancer.”