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Introduction: Women with ≥20% lifetime breast cancer risk can receive supplemental breast cancer screening with MRI. We examined factors associated with recommendation for screening breast MRI among primary care providers (PCPs), gynecologists (GYNs), and radiologists. Methods: We conducted a sequential mixed-methods study. Quantitative: Participants (N = 72) reported recommendations for mammogram and breast MRI via clinical vignettes describing hypothetical patients with moderate, high, and very high breast cancer risk. Logistic regressions assessed the relationships of clinician-level factors (gender, specialty, years practicing) and practice-level factors (practice type, imaging facilities available) with screening recommendations. Qualitative: We interviewed a subset of survey participants (n = 17, 17/72 = 24%) regarding their decision-making about breast cancer screening recommendations. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed with directed content analysis. Results: Compared with PCPs, GYNs and radiologists were significantly more likely to recommend breast MRI for high-risk (ORs = 4.09 and 4.09, respectively) and very-high-risk patients (ORs = 8.56 and 18.33, respectively). Qualitative analysis identified two key phases along the clinical pathway for high-risk women. Phase 1 was "identifying high-risk women," which included three subthemes (systems for risk assessment, barriers to risk assessment, scope of practice issues). Phase 2 was "referral for screening," which included three subthemes (conflicting guidelines, scope of practice issues, legal implications). Frequency of themes differed between specialties, potentially explaining findings from the quantitative phase. Conclusions: There are significant differences between specialties in supplemental breast cancer screening recommendations. Multilevel interventions are needed to support identification and management of women with high breast cancer risk, particularly for PCPs.
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Background: National guidelines recommend Papanicolaou (Pap) testing and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for cervical cancer prevention; however, certain subgroups may be at risk for underutilization. Prior studies have identified motherhood as a predictor of health outcomes, but this research has not been extended to cervical cancer prevention. Informed by the Health Belief Model, we explored the relationship between motherhood, health beliefs, and Pap testing and HPV vaccination. Methods: This study used an observational, cross-sectional design. Participants assigned female at birth (N = 417) completed an online survey assessing motherhood, health beliefs (perceived risk, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy), and prior Pap testing and HPV vaccination. Bootstrapped mediation analyses determined whether motherhood was associated with prior Pap testing and HPV vaccination and whether health beliefs mediated these relationships. Results: Of mothers (25%), 75% were up-to-date with Pap testing and 36% had previously received ≥1 dose of the HPV vaccine. There was no direct effect of motherhood on Pap testing (p = 0.873) or HPV vaccination (p = 0.921) and no significant indirect effects via health beliefs (ps ≥ 0.096). However, perceived benefits and self-efficacy were significantly related to both Pap testing (ps ≤ 0.003) and HPV vaccination (ps ≤ 0.010). Mothers reported lower self-efficacy for HPV vaccination than nonmothers (p = 0.035). Discussion: Consistent with nationwide statistics, most eligible participants were up-to-date with Pap testing and HPV vaccination. Although motherhood was not significantly associated with either behavior, mothers reported lower self-efficacy for HPV vaccination. Perceived benefits and self-efficacy may be important targets for future interventions aiming to increase cervical cancer prevention and screening behaviors.
