An analysis of breast cancer coverage in selected women's magazines, 1987-1995

Purpose. Women's magazines are a significant source of health information f or many women, but there is some concern that the media may misrepresent a woman's risk of breast cancer This review analyzes breast cancer articles i n selected women's magazines to determine if the information presented is a ccurate and balanced. Search Methods. For the years 1987 to 1995, the quantity and content of bre ast cancer articles were examined in four popular women's magazines and thr ee magazines with a large African-American audience. Fifty-nine lead factua l breast cancer articles were analyzed for the information presented on pre vention measures, risk factors, incidence/mortality statistics, and lifetim e risk. The age at diagnosis for women featured in these articles was also determined. Summary of important Findings. Breast cancer was the topic of 34.9% of the 585 cancer articles published in these seven magazines. Mammography screeni ng guidelines were recommended in 68% of articles that discussed prevention ; 66% presented the American Cancer Society guidelines. Risk factors for br east cancer were reported as age greater than 50 in 41 % and family history in 78% of the articles that discussed risk factors. Twenty articles used t he lifetime risk statistic of developing breast cancer; six explained what this statistic means. The average age of diagnosis for women featured in th e articles was 40.5. Major Conclusions. The proportion of breast cancer articles to all cancer a rticles in these magazines (34.9%) was similar to breast cancer incidence ( 32.2%) but was higher than its contribution to either female cancer mortali ty (17.2%) or overall female mortality (4.0 %). Magazines that targeted the African-American audience had fewer breast cancer articles than the other four magazines. Risk factors for breast cancer were not discussed in Propor tion to their impact on risk. The popular lifetime risk statistic was not e xplained in the majority of cases where it was presented. The average age o f diagnosis for the women featured in these articles was far below the medi an age of diagnosis of 65. Thus, magazine reports may be contributing to wo men's misunderstanding of their true breast cancer risk.