One of the biggest things stopping people attending their breast screening appointment is their worry that it may be painful. Or they may have found it painful in the past. So Dr Judith Offman is investigating the experiences of women from all ethnic backgrounds to find ways to reduce pain and improve breast screening for everyone.
In this section
What's the challenge?
Breast screening uses a breast x-ray, called a mammogram, to look for cancer that may be too small to see or feel. The sooner breast cancer is diagnosed, the more effective treatment is likely to be.
But 3 out of 10 people don’t attend their appointment when invited. We know there are lots of reasons for this, and worry about pain is one of the biggest ones. But we don’t know much about the pain people experience during mammograms, especially amongst people from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
If we understand how different people experience pain, then we can find ways to make mammograms more comfortable.
We know that breast screening can save lives. However, not everyone attends when invited and the uptake is lower in more deprived and ethnically diverse areas. We want to bring in the voices of women from different ethnic backgrounds to understand how they experience pain during mammograms and to find ways to make screening more comfortable for all women.
Dr Judith Offman
The science behind the project
Judith and her team want to better understand women who have experienced pain during breast screening. They’re interviewing women from different ethnic backgrounds living in North-East London. It’s an area where fewer women attend their screening appointments and breast cancer survival is lower compared to other areas in England.
The researchers are also reviewing existing research and consulting with people who carry out breast screening to come up with a thorough and reliable questionnaire to measure how much pain someone might be experiencing during a mammogram.
Based on their findings, the team will design a training course for staff carrying out breast screening to make it more comfortable. It may include training on techniques to help people feel more relaxed or in control.
If successful, Judith will plan further research to see if this training improves how people experience breast screening.
What difference will this project make?
Not everyone finds breast screening painful. But by understanding the experiences of diverse women and finding ways to make screening more comfortable, this research could encourage more people to attend their appointment.
Ultimately, this could mean that more breast cancers are caught sooner, and more lives are saved.
How many people could this project help?
Around 2.5 million people are invited for screening in England every year but 3 out of 10 don’t attend. This project could make breast cancer screening more comfortable for everyone and encourage more people to attend.
Understanding screening
Breast screening is a powerful tool in diagnosing breast cancer early. Learn what breast screening is, what it involves and how you may get your results.