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Receipt of a False Positive Test Result During Routine Screening for Ovarian Cancer: A Teachable Moment?

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Abstract

The term “teachable moment” (TM) has been used to describe a life transition or event which motivates an individual to change a behavior or presents an opportunity to intervene to prompt behavior change. We examined whether receipt of a false positive ovarian cancer (OC) screening result may represent a TM. 403 women participating in an OC screening program completed questionnaires assessing demographic, clinical, behavioral, and psychosocial information. The TM was operationalized as expressed interest in receiving health-related information. We hypothesized that among women receiving a false positive screening test result, those women who had experienced greater personal perceived risk for OC as well as distress would be more interested in receiving health-related information than women receiving a normal result. Analyses revealed that women receiving a false positive screening result were less interested in receiving health-related information than women receiving a normal screening result. For women receiving a false positive result, expressed interest in receipt of health-related information was only modestly related to distress and related even less to perceptions of OC risk. Our data do not support viewing a false positive OC screening result as a TM. Potential explanations for the current findings as well as recommendations for future research investigating the TM are discussed.

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Acknowledgment

This research was supported by grant CA84036 from the National Cancer Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, USA

    Andrea Floyd

  2. Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY, USA

    Rachel F. Steffens & Michael A. Andrykowski

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, KY, USA

    Edward Pavlik

Authors
  1. Andrea Floyd
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  2. Rachel F. Steffens
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  3. Edward Pavlik
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  4. Michael A. Andrykowski
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Correspondence to Andrea Floyd.

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Floyd, A., Steffens, R.F., Pavlik, E. et al. Receipt of a False Positive Test Result During Routine Screening for Ovarian Cancer: A Teachable Moment?. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 18, 70–77 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-011-9226-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-011-9226-7

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