Mammography Screening in women 70 years and older attending a Portuguese Primary Care Center: a Cross-Sectional Study

• Autor(a) principal: Juliana Duarte Barbosa
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://hdl.handle.net/10216/150233
• topic: Medicina clínica; Clinical medicine

Background: The European Council and Portugal's National Program for Oncologic diseases recommends that women aged 50 to 69 years should undergo breast cancer (BC) screening through mammography. Nevertheless, many women 70 years and older continue to undergo screening mammography. Objectives: Characterize the women who continued BC screening after turning 70 years and identify factors associated with this decision. Methods: Cross-sectional study including women who attend Nova Via Health Unit in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, and performed at least one mammography after turning 70 from March 2007 until July 31, 2019. Data was collected by accessing the electronic health records on the platform SClínico. Results: In this population and during this period, of the women who performed mammographies after the age of 50, 5,5% were 70 or more years old. The main determinant for requesting a mammography after 70 was the presence of other breast abnormalities (46,3%). Most requests in the screening group were for women under 75 years (79,2%). When a justification was present, most were from the general practitioner or another doctor (67,1%), instead of the patient (32,9%). The adherence to the BC screening program at 68/69 years old was lower in the screening group (73,3%, vs 84,8% in the diagnostic group). After multivariate logistic regression, justification (p < ,001; OR = 1,003; 95% CI: 1,001-1,004) and age at the request (p = ,013; OR = 0,369; 95% CI: 0,168-0,813) could significantly predict the type of mammography. Conclusions: We found a small proportion of requests for screening mammography after 70 years, which is in line with the National Cancer Plan implemented in Portugal. Some factors that may have contributed to the decision to prolong BC screening were age, justification and initiative of the request. However, further research is still needed.