Abstract
Purpose: This study's purpose is to describe and explain how women 55 years of age and older with a family history of breast cancer make screening mammography decisions. Design: A qualitative design based on grounded theory. This purposeful sample consisted of 23 women 55 years of age or older with one more first-degree relatives diagnosed with breast cancer. Method: Open-ended interviews were conducted with 23 women 55 years of age and older with a family history of breast cancer using a semistructured interview guide. Transcribed interview data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis to identify the conditions, actions, and consequences associated with participant's screening mammography decision making. Findings: Women reported becoming aware of their breast cancer risk usually due to a triggering event such as having a family member diagnosed with breast cancer, resulting in women "guarding against cancer." Women's actions included having mammograms, getting health check-ups, having healthy behaviors, and being optimistic. Most women reported extraordinary faith in mammography, often ignoring negative mammogram information. A negative mammogram gave women peace of mind and assurance that breast cancer was not present. Being called back for additional mammograms caused worry, especially with delayed results. Conclusions: The "guarding against cancer" theory needs to be tested in other at-risk populations and ultimately used to test strategies that promote cancer screening decision making and the adoption of screening behaviors in those at increased risk for developing cancer. Clinical Relevance: Women 55 years of age and older with a breast cancer family history need timely mammogram results, mammography reminders, and psychosocial support when undergoing a mammography recall or other follow-up tests.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 348-356 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Journal of Nursing Scholarship |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2010 |
Keywords
- Breast cancer
- Breast cancer screening
- Breast screening
- Decision making
- Family history
- Grounded theory
- Mammography
- Qualitative research
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Nursing(all)