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Race and family history assessment for breast cancer

  • Populations At Risk
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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Studies have demonstrated disparities in breast cancer screening between racial and ethnic groups. Knowledge of a woman’s family history of breast cancer is important for initiating early screening interventions. The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences exist in the collection of family history information based on patient race.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional patient telephone interview and medical record review.

SETTING: Eleven primary care practices in the Greater Boston area, all associated with Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals.

PARTICIPANTS: One thousand seven hundred fifty-nine women without a prior history of breast cancer who had been seen at least once by their primary care provider during the prior year.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Data were collected on patients regarding self-reported race, family breast cancer history information, and breast cancer screening interventions. Twenty-six percent (462/1,759) of the sample had documentation within their medical record of a family history for breast cancer. On multivariate analysis. after adjusting for patient age, education, number of continuous years in the provider’s practice, language, and presentation with a breast complaint, white women were more likely to be asked about a breast cancer family history when compared to nonwhite women (odds ratio, 1.68; 95% confidence interval, 1.21 to 2.35).

CONCLUSIONS: The majority of women seen by primary care providers do not have documentation of a family breast cancer history assessment within their medical record. White women were more likely to have family breast cancer information documented than nonwhites.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterans Affairs, Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, Nashville, TN, USA

    Harvey J. Murff MD, MPH & Daniel Byrne MS

  2. Division of General Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Jennifer S. Haas MD, MSPH, Ann Louise Puopolo BSN, RN & Troyen A. Brennan MD, JD, MPH

  3. Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Troyen A. Brennan MD, JD, MPH

  4. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Troyen A. Brennan MD, JD, MPH

  5. Division of General Internal Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Department of Veterans Affairs, TVH, GRECC Unit, 1310 24th Avenue South, 37212-2637, Nashville, TN

    Harvey J. Murff MD, MPH & Daniel Byrne MS

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  1. Harvey J. Murff MD, MPH
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  2. Daniel Byrne MS
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  3. Jennifer S. Haas MD, MSPH
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  4. Ann Louise Puopolo BSN, RN
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  5. Troyen A. Brennan MD, JD, MPH
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Correspondence to Harvey J. Murff MD, MPH.

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The authors report no conflicts of interests or dual commitments associated with this research.

This research was supported by the Harvard Risk Management Foundation.

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Murff, H.J., Byrne, D., Haas, J.S. et al. Race and family history assessment for breast cancer. J GEN INTERN MED 20, 75–80 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.40112.x

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