For women over 40, awareness of changes to breast cancer screening guidelines is associated with more negative feelings toward mammography

BACKGROUND: In 2009, the US Preventive Services Task Force updated its breast cancer screening recommendations; notably, the new recommendations no longer advise screening for women ages 40 to 49. Although the changes drew widespread media attention, little is known about how the changes affected women's thoughts and feelings concerning mammograms. METHOD: A national survey of women aged 40+ (N=509) was conducted in November-December, 2010 (one year after the release of the updated guidelines). Women reported whether they were aware of the changes, their perceived benefits and barriers concerning mammography, and the feelings they associated with mammography. RESULTS: 41.7% of women were aware of the changes to the screening guidelines. Awareness of the changes was not as associated with either perceived benefits or barriers (bs<.051, ns). Awareness was, however, associated with women's affective associations, the feelings and emotions associated with a behavioral choice. Controlling for age, income, and education level, awareness of the changes to screening guidelines was associated with lower levels of positive affective associations (b=-.235, p=.021), and higher levels of negative affective associations (b=.132, p=.007) about screening behavior. CONCLUSIONS: Awareness of the changes in screening guidelines was associated with more negative and less positive feelings associated with mammography. Given the relation of affective associations to engaging in behavior, a better understanding of how affective associations and other psychosocial factors are influenced by awareness of changes to screening guidelines will help inform communication strategies that encourage compliance with recommendations and optimal decision making about screening behaviors.