Family breast cancer history and mammography - Framingham Offspring Study

The authors examined mammography use according to family cancer history and identified predictors of recent use (less than or equal to2 years). Framin gham Offspring Study participants in Framingham, Massachusetts, aged 40-79 years, completed a breast health questionnaire in 1996-1997. The study samp le of women included 141 with a first-degree relative with breast cancer, 2 21 with a mother or sister(s) with other cancers, and 331 with a mother and sister(s) who participate in the Framingham Heart Study and did not report a history of cancer. Stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to ide ntify predictors of recent mammography use. Among women with a family breas t cancer history, 98% reported mammography use compared with 95% of other w omen. Recent mammography use was higher in women with a family breast cance r history (93%) compared with women with a family history of other cancer ( 80%) and women without a family history of cancer (84%) (p = 0.004). Odds r atios and 95% confidence intervals for significant predictors of recent mam mography use were as follows: family history of breast cancer, 3.2 (95% con fidence interval (CI): 1.4, 7.7); recent clinical breast examination, 17.4 (95% CI: 9.2, 32.8); and smoking, 0.4 (95% CI: 0.2, 0.7). Mammography use w as high among women with a family breast cancer history.