The study also uncovered some surprising beliefs held by women about breast cancer:
- If they held optimistic attitudes about not having cancer, this lowered their breast cancer risk.
- If their mammogram results were negative, their faith in the results was extraordinary and often relied solely on the mammogram for breast cancer detection.
- If they reached their 70s and 80s, they tended to believe that mammograms were no longer essential. Due to their age, they believed their chances of getting cancer were slimmer.
- For older women whose daughters were the first-degree relatives who had breast cancer, they believed that they themselves were much less likely to develop it (i.e., cancer is for younger women).
Next: Nurses and breast cancer