Clinical breast examination practices among women undergoing screening mammography.

Purpose: To determine the proportion of women who underwent clinical breast examination (CBE) within 12 months before undergoing screening mammography and to examine which factors, if any, were associated with having undergone CBE within 12 months before screening mammography.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional study of 1,135 women presenting for screening mammography was conducted with a self-administered questionnaire. Data were collected regarding sociodemographic information, health care provider information, breast self-examination practices, and CBE history. Data were analyzed with the chi(2) test of independence.

Results: One hundred forty (38.5%) of 364 nonwhite women and 366 (57.4%) of 638 white women reported having undergone CBE 12 months before screening mammography. This association between race and CBE was statistically significant before (P <.001) and after adjusting for education, age, and type of referring physician (P <.001). There was a statistically significant association between undergoing CBE within 12 months and age (P <.001), type of referring physician (P <.001), and education level (P <.001). Health insurance status was associated with having undergone CBE within the past 12 months, but it was not a statistically significant association after controlling for race.

Conclusion: The proportion of women who undergo comprehensive breast cancer screening differs by race, education level, and type of referring physician.