A Natural Progression: Australian Women's Attitudes About an Individualized Breast Screening Model

Individualized screening is our logical next step to improve population breast cancer screening in Australia. To explore breast screening participants' views of the current program in Victoria, Australia, examine their openness to change, and attitudes toward an individualized screening model, this qualitative work was performed from a population-based breast screening cohort. This work was designed to inform the development of a decision aid to facilitate women's decisions about participating in individualized screening, and to elicit Australian consumer perspectives on the international movement toward individualized breast screening. A total of 52 women participated in one of four focus groups, and were experienced with screening with 90% of participants having had more than three mammograms. Focus group discussion was facilitated following three main themes: (i) experience of breast screening; (ii) breast cancer risk perception, and (iii) views on individualized screening. Participants had strong, positive, emotional ties to breast screening in its current structure but were supportive, with some reservations, of the idea of individualized screening. There was good understanding about the factors contributing to personalized risk and a wide range of opinions about the inclusion of genetic testing with genetic testing being considered a foreign and evolving domain. Individualized breast screening that takes account of risk factors such as mammographic density, lifestyle, and genetic factors would be acceptable to a population of women who are invested in the current system. The communication and implementation of a new program would be critical to its acceptance and potential success. Reservations may be had in regards to uptake of genetic testing, motivations behind the change, and management of the women allocated to a lower risk category.