Perceptions of breast cancer screening age among young women in generation Y

Objective: To assess perceptions of breast cancer screening age and breast cancer risk among young American women in Generation Y using a modified version of the Health Belief Model (HBM). Method: Using data from the 2003 year of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), I examined perceived susceptibility and socio-demographic factors on mammography age. With multi-nominal logistic regression, I investigated the odds ratios to describe how perceived susceptibility and socio-demographic factors predict whether a young woman believes mammography screening should take place at an age that is below 40 or above 40. Results: I hypothesized that race would have the greatest effect on perceptions of mammography age, and found that many of the variables used did not have a significant effect on this study. Conclusions: Perceptions of mammography guidelines are relevant to knowledge about breast cancer. Although the results of this study can not be generalized to other generations they are relevant to perceptions of health among young women in Generation Y. Perhaps developing health messages that are specific to young women about mammography can work to improve knowledge about breast cancer and future breast cancer screening behaviors among women in this age group. This study has implications for health communication, health disparities research, and cancer research among young women.