Abstract P3-03-05: A randomized study assessing interventions to improve comfort during screening mammography
Authors: Mazo-Canola Marcela , Ko Heidi C. , Kist Kenneth , Michalek Joel , Franco Lillian , Otto Pamela , Kaklamani Virginia 
Published: March 2023

Background: Although screening mammography leads to an early detection of breast cancer and a reduction in breast cancer mortality, many women have apprehension about mammograms due to reported discomfort and pain [would cite the source]. A study showed that pain was the cause of non-reattendance of screening mammograms in 25-46% of reported cases by women. Despite this, there is limited research on strategies to reduce discomfort and anxiety associated with mammography screening and improve patient experience and compliance with national screening recommendations. Herein, we performed a double-blind randomized clinical study to determine if the use of local analgesia and calming music can improve patient satisfaction during routine screening mammogram. Methods: This study was designed as a double-blind randomized clinical trial with a 2 × 2 factorial design. A total of 251 patients who presented for mammographic screening were randomized to receive: breast lidocaine gel at a dose of 1200 mg or placebo gel on both breast and experience calming music or no music Patients with history of mastectomy, breast cancer or recent (within 24 hours) analgesic use were excluded. Pain was measured with a 5-point face pain scale. Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate was used for analysis Results: Of the 251 patients who were randomized between June 2017 and October 2019, 195 self-identified as Hispanics (77%). Median age was 58.5 years old and there were no differences in between groups. 100% were female. 99.3% presented for screening with no concerning symptoms. A total of 126 patients were randomized to music vs 125 to no Music. 79 patients in music group and 51 patients in no music group were randomized to lidocaine. Regarding pain assessment, 18.96% of patients had a pain score of 4 and 5 in the music group randomized to lidocaine gel as opposed to 10.64% to placebo gel. In the non-music group, 17.65% of patients expressed pain score of 4 and 5 to lidocaine gel vs. 18.91% to placebo gel. (P value music: 0.95, P value lidocaine: 0.93 P value music and lidocaine: 1). Patients randomized to lidocaine gel to music reported their prior mammogram to be at a pain score of 4 to 5 in 41.7% of the subjects vs 45% of patients in the no music group. (P value music: 0.45, P value lidocaine: 0.93 P value music and lidocaine: 1). Despite this, majority patients in both groups expressed no reluctance for future mammograms. Conclusion: The addition of calming music and breast lidocaine gel did not show a statistically significant difference in the level of pain perceived by patients getting screening mammography. The data appear to suggest less severe pain (pain score 4 and 5) when these strategies are combined. Further prospective trials with larger patient populations are needed to explore these interventions. Despite the perceived pain most patients were still willing to return for a mammogram the following year.

Citation Format: Marcela Mazo-Canola, Heidi C. Ko, Kenneth Kist, Joel Michalek, Lillian Franco, Pamela Otto, Virginia Kaklamani. A randomized study assessing interventions to improve comfort during screening mammography [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-03-05.