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Compression force behaviours : an exploration of the beliefs and values influencing the application of breast compression during screening mammography

Murphy, FJ; Nightingale, JM; Hogg, P; Robinson, L; Seddon, D; Mackay, S

Compression force behaviours : an exploration of the beliefs and values influencing the application of breast compression during screening mammography Thumbnail


Authors

FJ Murphy

JM Nightingale

L Robinson

D Seddon

S Mackay



Abstract

This research project investigated the compression behaviours of practitioners during screening mammography. The study sought to provide a qualitative understanding of ‘how’ and ‘why’ practitioners apply compression force. With a clear conflict in the existing literature and little scientific evidence base to support the reasoning behind the application of compression force, this research project investigated the application of compression using a phenomenological approach.

Following ethical approval, six focus group interviews were conducted at six different breast screening centres in England. A sample of 41 practitioners were interviewed within the focus groups together with six one- to- one interviews of mammography educators or clinical placement co-ordinators.

The findings revealed two broad humanistic and technological categories consisting of 10 themes. The themes included client empowerment, white-lies, time for interactions, uncertainty of own practice, culture, power, compression controls, digital technology, dose audit-safety nets, numerical scales. All of these themes were derived from 28 Units of Significant Meaning (USM).

The results demonstrate a wide variation in the application of compression force, thus offering a possible explanation for the difference between practitioner compression forces found in quantitative studies. Compression force was applied in many different ways due to individual practitioner experiences and behaviour. Furthermore, the culture and the practice of the units themselves influenced beliefs and attitudes of practitioners in compression force application. The strongest recommendation to emerge from this study was the need for peer observation to enable practitioners to observe and compare their own compression force practice to that of their colleagues. The findings are significant for clinical practice in order to understand how and why compression force is applied.

Citation

Murphy, F., Nightingale, J., Hogg, P., Robinson, L., Seddon, D., & Mackay, S. (2015). Compression force behaviours : an exploration of the beliefs and values influencing the application of breast compression during screening mammography. Radiography, 21(1), 30-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2014.05.009

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 19, 2014
Online Publication Date Jun 13, 2014
Publication Date Feb 1, 2015
Deposit Date Jun 6, 2014
Publicly Available Date Sep 26, 2017
Journal Radiography
Print ISSN 1078-8174
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 21
Issue 1
Pages 30-35
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2014.05.009
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2014.05.009
Related Public URLs http://www.radiographyonline.com/

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