Women's Perceptions of Breast Cancer Risk: Are They Accurate?

Background: The objective was to compare women's personal estimates of their risk with objective breast cancer risk estimates and to describe the risk factors for breast cancer identified by women. Methods: Telephone survey of a random sample of 761 rural and urban women with no history of breast cancer. Survey instrument included measures of perceptions of lifetime risk for breast cancer for themselves and for the average woman, perceptions of risk factors that influenced their risk and the average woman's risk for breast cancer. Objective estimates of breast cancer risk were calculated using the Gail et al. algorithm. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data. Results: Women's estimates of their own lifetime risk for breast cancer were significantly higher than their Gail model risk estimates (mean difference=19%, p