Experts shocked by magnitude of online misinformation around mammogram safety in Sask.

Saskatchewan women ages 43 and older can now sign up for mammogram screening without a doctor’s referral as part of a phased approach to get the eligibility age down to 40 by June.

Articles and posts about the age qualification drop were spread on social media as soon as the province announced it the first week of January, but a large chunk of the comments were filled with misinformation about the safety of mammograms.

This response shocked advocates and physicians who have been pushing for the qualification age to drop to 40 for years.

“I was appalled and I immediately, you know, copied the link to the Facebook post and shared it with some of our advocates and some of our physicians to show them because we've never seen anything like that — that magnitude of the misinformation,” said Jennie Dale, founder and president of Dense Breasts Canada.

Dale said one post on Facebook that simply shared a screenshot of an article about the age drop to 43 had over 400 comments. She said the majority of them contained misinformation about mammograms. 

“And I thought, Oh my goodness, it would take hours, if not days and days, to put forth a dedicated effort to dispel this information. It was overwhelming. It was all different types of misinformation all in one spot,” Dale said.

This misinformation included claims that mammograms expose women to high levels of radiation, that mammograms are more painful than experts say they are, and that “false negative” and “false positive” results are high, which leads to extreme anxiety and stress in women.

Dr. Paula Gordon, a clinical professor at the University of British Columbia and a practicing breast radiologist, said it’s important to let women know these claims are either false, or misleading. She emphasized that online misinformation can deter women from taking advantage of the age drop due to fear. 

“After age 40, the radiation in a mammogram is negligible in terms of risk. People need to know that we're surrounded by radiation every day, that we get radiation from the air, the water and the ground,” Gordon said.

She said the dosage of radiation in a mammogram is very, very low. For example, if a woman lives at sea level, the risk of a mammogram is the equivalent radiation that one would get simply from living for seven weeks. 

Radiation, Gordon said, is higher if you live at an elevation. At a high elevation, the radiation risk of a mammogram is equivalent to simply living in that environment for three weeks.

Lisa Vick, a breast cancer survivor and patient advocate, said that prior to finding a lump on her breast, she was concerned about exposing herself to more radiation through a mammogram. But that changed.

“I thought I was a healthy 48-year-old woman. I wouldn't need a mammogram yet because I had no family history. I was, you know, taking care of myself. And I'm like, why would I expose myself to extra radiation?” said Vick, adding that she did not know how low the risk actually was.

“And I just thought there's no need. I'll just wait, hang out. Besides, I thought that was something that women over 50 did.”