Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar 15;12(3):e058879.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-058879.

What do women and healthcare professionals expect of decision aids for breast cancer screening? A qualitative study in France

Aïm-Eusébi Amélie  1 , Yannick Ruelle  2   3   4 , Bernard Frèche  5 , Mélanie Houllemare  2 , Aurélie Bonillo  5 , Laurie Bouaziz  6 , Cédric Rat  4   7   8 , Xavier Gocko  4   9   10   11 , Catherine Cerisey  3 , Isabelle Aubin-Auger  6 , Emilie Ferrat  4   12
Affiliations

What do women and healthcare professionals expect of decision aids for breast cancer screening? A qualitative study in France

Aïm-Eusébi Amélie et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objective: Breast cancer screening decision aids (DAs) are designed to help women decide whether or not to participate in mammography-based programmes. We aimed to explore women's and healthcare professionals' expectations of a breast cancer screening DA, as part of the French DEDICACES study.

Methods: This French qualitative study was based on semistructured, individual interviews with women from the general population, general practitioners (GPs), midwives, gynaecologists, radiologists and screening centre managers. Sampling was purposive and used diversification criteria. The inductive analysis was based on grounded theory.

Results: Between April 2018 and May 2019, we interviewed 40 people: 13 women, 14 GPs, 4 gynaecologists, 3 midwives, 3 radiologists and 3 screening centre managers. The women and the healthcare professionals considered that a DA could help to improve levels of knowledge, harmonise medical practice and provide reliable, comprehensive information. Overall, the interviewees wanted an easy-to-use, intuitive, graphic-rich, interactive, computer-based, patient-centred DA. Use of the DA might be limited by a lack of familiarity with shared decision-making (SDM), the risk of misuse and a preference for asymmetric positive information.

Conclusion: The present results are likely to facilitate the development of the first validated tool for SDM support in French breast cancer screening programmes.

Keywords: breast tumours; preventive medicine; primary care; qualitative research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

References

    1. Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL, et al. . Global cancer statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin 2021;71:209–49. 10.3322/caac.21660 - DOI - PubMed
    1. European Communities . European guidelines for quality assurance in breast cancer screening and diagnosis. 4th EDN. Luxembourg: European communities, 2006. Available: https://screening.iarc.fr/doc/ND7306954ENC_002.pdf [Accessed Jan 2022].
    1. Institut de Veille Sanitaire (InVS), Santé Publique France . Taux de participation Au programme de dépistage organisé Du cancer Du sein. 2017-2018. Available: https://www.santepubliquefrance.fr/maladies-et-traumatismes/cancers/canc... [Accessed Oct 2021].
    1. Shapiro S, Strax P, Venet L. Periodic breast cancer screening in reducing mortality from breast cancer. JAMA 1971;215:1777–85. 10.1001/jama.1971.03180240027005 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tabár L, Fagerberg CJ, Gad A, et al. . Reduction in mortality from breast cancer after mass screening with mammography. randomised trial from the breast cancer screening Working group of the Swedish national board of health and welfare. Lancet 1985;1:829–32. 10.1016/s0140-6736(85)92204-4 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types