Preventive Health Care for Women

Mammography screening:

For women aged 50 to 74 years the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends mammography screening every two years (biennial), for women younger than 50 years, biennial screening should be based on individual patient history, and The USPSTF recommends against teaching breast self-examination (51). However, The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) signed into law by President Obama signed in 2010 supports the previous USPSTF recommendation of mammography every 1-2 years after age 40 (40). According to the USPSTF, clinicians are recommended to talk about the benefits and harms of using chemoprevention for women at high risk for breast cancer and who have a low risk of adverse effects of chemoprevention, and the use of tamoxifen or raloxifene routinely for the primary prevention of breast cancer in women at low or average risk of breast cancer is not advised by the USPSTF (50). The BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations place women at higher risk of breast and ovarian cancers and women with a family history of BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations or at high risk of this mutation are recommended by the USPSTF for genetic counseling and evaluation for testing of this mutation (41).