Article Figures & Data
Figures
- FIGURE 1.
Flowchart of survey responders and nonresponders. MN = Minnesota.
- FIGURE 2.
Distribution of ratings for comfort during MBI, on 7-point scale. Responses ranged from 1 (zero discomfort during examination) to 7 (so uncomfortable that patient had difficulty completing examination).
- FIGURE 3.
Reasons for wanting or not wanting to have future MBI. Percentages are from total of 209 survey responders. Responders may have given multiple reasons for both wanting and not wanting MBI in future. BC = breast cancer; HCP = health care practitioner.
Tables
Characteristic Value Age Mean ± SD (y) 60.1 ± 10.5 Median (y) 61.1 (range, 40–81) Category (n) 40–49 y 44 (21%) 50–59 y 54 (26%) 60–69 y 69 (33%) ≥70 y 42 (20%) Race (n); n = 207 White 197 (95%) Black or African American 2 (1%) Asian 8 (4%) American Indian/Alaskan Native 0 Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0 Ethnicity (n); n = 206 Hispanic or Latino 5 (2%) Not Hispanic or Latino 201 (98%) BMI category (n); n = 198 <18.5 kg/m2 5 (3%) 18.5 to <25 kg/m2 99 (50%) 25 to <30 kg/m2 (overweight) 62 (31%) ≥30 kg/m2 (obese) 32 (16%) Menopausal status Premenopausal 54 (26%) Postmenopausal 143 (68%) Unknown 12 (6%) Personal history of breast cancer (n) 46 (22%) MBI history* (n) First-time MBI 76 (36%) At least 1 prior MBI 133 (64%) MBI indication Screening 202 (97%) Diagnostic 7 (3%) Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System breast density (n); n = 208 A: Almost entirely fat 1 (<1%) B: Scattered fibroglandular densities 12 (6%) C: Heterogeneously dense 156 (75%) D: Extremely dense 39 (19%) MBI compressed thickness on craniocaudal view; n = 208† Mean ± SD (cm) 5.9 ± 1.5 Median (cm) 6.1 (range, 1.3–9.3) Category (n) <4 cm 19 (9%) 4–8 cm 176 (85%) >8 cm 13 (6%) Mammography compressed thickness on craniocaudal view (cm); n = 204† Mean 5.4 ± 1.4 Median 5.4 (range, 1.6–9.1) ↵* History of prior MBI was obtained from survey question 1 for 208 responders and verified via medical record review for 1 responder with missing response to survey question 1.
↵† Reported for all available data. Among 203 patients with compressed thickness available for both MBI and mammography, mean thickness was 5.9 cm (SD, 1.5) for MBI and 5.3 cm (SD, 1.4) for mammography.
- TABLE 2.
Grouped MBI Comfort Ratings, Overall and by Patient Characteristics, in Answer to Survey Question 4 (“During This Recent MBI Examination, How Comfortable Were You on Scale of 1 to 7?”)
Parameter Total Comfortable (rating, 1–3) Neither comfortable nor uncomfortable (rating, 4) Uncomfortable (rating, 5–7) P All responders (n) 209 140 (67%) 24 (12%) 45 (22%) — Age (n) <55 y 68 36 (53%) 14 (21%) 18 (27%) 0.003 ≥55 y 141 104 (74%) 10 (7%) 27 (19%) Mean ± SD (y) 209 61.5 ± 10.4 54.7 ± 10.1 58.7 ± 10.2 0.008 BMI (n) <25 kg/m2 104 63 (61%) 15 (14%) 26 (25%) 0.19 25 to <30 kg/m2 62 41 (66%) 5 (8%) 16 (26%) ≥30 kg/m2 32 26 (81%) 3 (9%) 3 (9%) Mean ± SD (kg/m2) 196 26.1 ± 4.9 24.7 ± 5.5 24.5 ± 3.8 0.14 Compressed breast thickness on MBI, craniocaudal view (n) <4 cm 19 11 (58%) 3 (16%) 5 (26%) 0.72 4–8 cm 176 121 (69%) 19 (11%) 36 (21%) >8 cm 13 8 (62%) 1 (8%) 4 (31%) Mean ± SD (cm) 208 6.1 ± 1.4 5.5 ± 1.8 5.7 ± 1.5 0.11 Reported preexisting pain (n) 0.66 No 192 130 (68%) 21 (11%) 41 (21%) Yes 17 10 (59%) 3 (18%) 4 (24%) MBI history (n) 0.006 At least 1 prior MBI 133 94 (71%) 19 (14%) 20 (15%) First-time MBI 76 46 (61%) 5 (7%) 25 (33%) Source of discomfort n Breast compression 16 (8%) Back or neck discomfort 14 (7%) Maintaining position for duration of examination 14 (7%) Pressure on chest wall or ribs 8 (4%) Temporary discomfort during positioning 7 (3%) Detector edges in contact with underarms or axilla 5 (2%) Skin pulling 4 (2%) Difficulty breathing normally 4 (2%) Uncomfortable chair 3 (1%) Lack of place to rest chin 3 (1%) Lack of place to rest arms 2 (1%) Intravenous injection 2 (1%) Wearing of face mask* 2 (1%) Face in contact with camera 1 (1%) Shoulder pain 1 (1%) Knees straddling gantry 1 (1%) ↵* Masking requirements due to coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic were in place during study period.
Of 209 total survey responders, 64 women provided at least 1 comment on discomfort of procedure. Responders may have commented on multiple factors of discomfort. Sources of discomfort were abstracted from free text responses to survey questions 5 and 10.
- TABLE 4.
Selected Free-Text Responses to Survey Question 10 (“If You Have Other Opinions About Your Recent MBI Examination, Please Share Them Here”)
Experience Comment Positive It is very comfortable, and wonderful to have the television distraction. MBI is pretty easy; you get to sit and watch television while the examination is going on. I don’t mind having it done at all. With dense breast I like having additional screening done. Staff was pleasant and did great job during examination and in trying to make me as comfortable as possible during examination. Last MBI scan was so comfortable, I almost fell asleep. Overall good experience. Appreciated warm blanket and back support with pillow. Nice to have television. Excellent tech. I want to commend the young woman who was tasked with positioning me for this test. She was very sensitive to my comfort, apologized for all the maneuvering but was thorough in her work. She did a great job! I felt nuclear medicine tech was courteous, did a nice job of instructing me as to what she needed from me for positioning, etc., was responsive to my questions about the procedure and tracer, and interacted with me in an interested, positive manner. I liked it better than a mammogram. It was great. I would gladly stop doing mammograms if that was an option and replace it with MBI. Mixed Examination was slightly uncomfortable but very manageable. Person who did it made experience comfortable. I would still get these examinations even though they are uncomfortable because I value the outcome of these examinations in health prevention. I believe any discomfort I had was due to length of time sitting still during examination. Being able to stretch a little helped. Length of compression is worst part, because tightness is less than regular mammogram. Technician was very good, respectful, and compassionate. Some of the discomfort is due to the masking requirements, as it is difficult to breathe when you’re jammed against a machine with your breast squeezed for 10 min at time! Television was a huge help in passing time—great idea. Compression from MBI was fine; it was the chair that was uncomfortable and the time involved in an awkward position; to have a place to rest your head would help. Otherwise, no complaints. The television was nice. Negative I recommend ordering chairs that move more easily for technologists. It seemed like an athletic feat for them to position me correctly. I felt bad for all of their twisting, pushing, and propping.
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