Information and Involvement Preferences of Women in Their 40s Before Their First Screening Mammogram

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Abstract
While most groups recommend routine screening mammography for women starting at age 40, they also encourage primary care providers to inform women about the benefits and potential harms of the procedure and to engage the women in shared decision making.1-5 However, the literature suggests that women often overestimate their risk of breast cancer6 and the benefits of screening6-8 and are not aware of the possible harms.8,9 In addition, little is known about whether and to what extent women wish to be involved in decision making regarding initiating screening.10 We conducted a survey to determine what information women wanted before initiating screening and what are their preferences for involvement in the decision-making process.