INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY - 8 MARCH

Breast Health - good news, bad news

Western Australian women have learnt to love their breasts, but many haven't learnt to look after them, according to an attitudinal survey conducted by Breast Imaging to celebrate International Women's Day (8 March).

GOOD NEWS - the days of women being embarrassed about their bodies have gone with 95% of women surveyed saying they liked their breasts.

BAD NEWS - only 17% of women surveyed conducted the recommended monthly breast self-examinations. Instead many did it bi-monthly or six monthly and an alarming 31% had never conducted a breast self-examination.

Dr Peter Goodwin, radiologist at Breast Imaging, said breast health is a major issue for International Women's Day because 1 in 14 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer by the age of 75(*1).

"Recently we have seen a significant number of women with large cancers who missed the opportunity to detect their cancer earlier because they didn't perform regular breast checks."

"That's why Breast Imaging wanted to find out what women thought about their breasts and how much they valued their breast health."

"The survey results confirmed our belief that more education is needed to encourage women to do regular monthly breast checks and have yearly clinical breast checks," said Dr Peter Goodwin.

SURVEY RESULTS
The random email survey of 200 Western Australian women conducted in December 2001 also uncovered the following:

Breast cancer worries
Breast cancer is a big concern for most women. The survey found 60% had moderate worries, 7% were extremely anxious about breast cancer, while the rest were not at all concerned.

Mums the word
The majority of women said if they found a breast lump they would talk to their mother first (30%), while 29% would go to their GP. Partners were next with 26% and friends were last on the list.

Large majority touched by breast cancer
Three quarters of women surveyed said someone they know has had breast cancer.

No more red faces
90% of women do not feel embarrassed when talking to their GPs about personal matters and breast issues.

When to check?
43% of women know the best time to conduct a breast check while the majority got it wrong with many thinking a breast self exam should be done a week before (instead of after) a woman's period begins.

Men and breast cancer
More than a quarter of women know that although rare, men can get breast cancer too.

Breast imaging
The majority of those surveyed understood what a mammogram involved (79%), while only 43% could define a breast ultrasound.

ENDS

*1 The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) is the clearing house for all cancer statistics in Australia. The collection of data is drawn from the state cancer registries and analysis of the data cannot be undertaken until all states have submitted material. The AIHW has also published survival data for the period 1982-1994 drawing on information from state cancer registries.