Immediate Mammogram Results Calm Nerves

Waiting for the results of a mammogram can be nerve-wracking, especially for a repeat exam when the original results are abnormal. A new study shows that having a radiologist read mammograms while the woman waits may ease anxiety.

Although the study did not examine the cost of providing immediate mammogram reading, the study’s lead author told Reuters Health that clinics should look into this strategy. “Facilities that offer mammography should consider whether radiologist staffing issues could permit them to provide this service for their women patients,” said Dr. Mary B. Barton of Harvard Medical School in Boston. Many women have an abnormal result on a mammogram and are asked to return for further exams. In 97 percent of cases, women with abnormal results are eventually found to be free of cancer — that is, the original test was a “false-positive.” In the interim, of course, waiting for the result is highly stressful. To reduce the anxiety of waiting for mammogram results, Barton and her colleagues tested two methods. “The first was a change in how mammograms are read, so that instead of waiting several days for results, women could get results before they left the facility,” Barton explained. The second approach was an educational pamphlet and video that included information about false-positive mammograms. The educational intervention highlighted the low risk of cancer even if a mammogram is abnormal and it offered women strategies for coping with anxiety. Barton and her colleagues tested the anxiety-reducing effect of the two interventions, both alone and in combination, in a study of more than 2,300 women. The analysis did not include any women who were diagnosed with breast cancer. Women were interviewed about their anxiety levels at three weeks and again at three months after their mammogram. Perhaps not surprisingly, women who had false-positive readings had higher levels of anxiety than women whose mammograms were read as normal, Barton and her colleagues report in Wednesday’s issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Although mammogram-related anxiety was common, cutting the waiting period seemed to help, according to Barton. “We found that getting a mammogram at a facility where the radiologist reads mammograms while women wait was associated with lower levels of anxiety,” she said. One reason for the reduced anxiety may have been that many women who received an immediate reading never realized that their mammogram was false-positive. If a mammogram was abnormal, women could receive an additional mammogram or have an ultrasound screening during the same visit. According to Barton, having a radiologist on hand to read mammograms immediately may be worthwhile. “The next steps for this kind of research are to analyze the cost implications of such staffing changes in relation to the benefit of lowered anxiety that we demonstrated in our study,” Barton said. The other intervention, the educational video and pamphlet, did not seem to reduce anxiety in women who received an abnormal mammogram result, the team found. (Source: Journal of the National Cancer Institute: Reuters Health: Merritt McKinney: April 2004.)