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Keywords:
Breast, Mammography, Screening, Audit and standards, Education and training, Quality assurance
Authors:
C. E. Mercer1, K. Szczepura1, J. Kelly2, S. Millington2, E. Denton3, R. Borgen4, B. Hilton4, P. Hogg1; 1Manchester/UK, 2Chester/UK, 3Norwich/UK, 4Lancs/UK
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2015/B-1026
Purpose
One of the most important factors in determining the success of a screening programme is screening uptake 1,2 and the causes of any non-uptake are multifactorial.
A systematic review (2013) indicated that between 47,000 and 77,000 women do not re-attend for breast screening in a year due to pain directly related to a previous mammogram3.
Pain from mammography can arise from the application of compression force3.It has been demonstrated that the position of the breast under the compression paddle can affect the amount of pressure in different portions of the breast4.
Quality assurance is essential to ensure the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP) continued effectiveness5.
It is extraordinary that a screening service has no standards or guidelines on the application of compression force other than a statement ‘the force of the compression on the x-ray machine should not exceed 200 Newtons (N)6 with various highly subjective proposed descriptors such as ‘taut to touch’ or ‘until the skin blanches’7-11.