TDNet Discover

Problem: There is an increased rate of breast cancer mortality among adult women in Maryland, due to poor compliance to breast cancer screening with mammogram. Purpose: The purpose of this change project was to implement the American Cancer Society (ACS) Breast Cancer Screening Awareness Guidelines on adult women between 40 to 74 years in an outpatient primary care clinic in Maryland. The primary objective was to determine whether the intervention led to a significant increase in mammogram completion within 8-10 weeks, compared to usual care. Methods: The study utilized a pre-post implementation design, involving 412 adult women in the primary care clinic. Data were collected through electronic health record (EHR) reviews, comparing the pre-implementation phase (162 women) with the post-implementation phase (250 women). The ACS Breast Cancer Screening Awareness Guidelines were integrated into routine practice during the post-implementation phase. The primary outcome measure was the completion of mammograms within the specified timeframe. Results: In the pre-implementation phase, 90.1% of women did not complete a mammogram, while in the post-implementation phase, only 3.2% failed to complete the screening. The analysis revealed a statistically significant increase in the number of women completing mammograms from pre-implementation to post-implementation (x²= 317.3, p < 0.001). This change represents a large effect size (Phi = 0.878, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The integration of the ACS Breast Cancer Screening Awareness Guidelines in the outpatient primary care clinic in Maryland led to a substantial improvement in mammography completion rates among adult women within 8-10 weeks. These findings suggest that evidence based interventions, focused on increasing awareness and adherence to breast cancer screening guidelines, were effective in promoting early detection and potentially improving survival rates. This project contributes to addressing the critical issue of low breast cancer screening rates and late-stage diagnoses, particularly among the adult women population, emphasizing the importance of proactive interventions in primary care settings.