Perceived Risk and Adherence to Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines Among Women with a Familial History of Breast Cancer: a Review of the Literature

Objectives: A small positive association has been consistently demonstrated between perceived breast cancer risk and mammography use. Evidence specific to women with familial breast cancer risk has not been previously reviewed.

Methods: A literature search was conducted. 186 studies were identified for abstract/full-text review, of which 10 articles were included. Manual searching identified 10 additional articles. Twenty articles examining the association between perceived breast cancer risk and adherence to mammography, clinical breast examination (CBE) or breast self-examination (BSE) guidelines among women with familial breast cancer risk were reviewed. Studies were classified according to screening modality, categorized by finding and ordered by year of publication. Studies assessing mammography were further classified according to the applied method of measuring perceived risk.

Results: Our review found a weak positive association between higher perceived risk and adherence to mammography guidelines among women with familial breast cancer risk. Consistent associations between perceived risk and adherence to CBE and BSE guidelines were not observed.

Conclusions: Our ability to understand the relationship between perceived breast cancer risk and adherence to breast screening guidelines is limited, because most previous research is cross-sectional. Future studies with prospective methodologies that use consistent measurement methods and are adequately powered are warranted.