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David A. Snowdon, PhD, MPH; Nelly Gonzalez, MD, MPH; Barbara M. O'Leary, DVM, MS; Sharon K. Ostwald, PhD, RN
University of Minnesota Minneapolis

JAMA. 1989;262(2):207.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Approximately 50% of the 114 000 Roman Catholic sisters (nuns) in the United States are 65 years of age or older (New York Times. May 30, 1986:1), and virtually 100% of sisters of all ages are nulliparous. Since old age and lack of reproduction are major risk factors for breast cancer,¹ Catholic sisters have an especially high risk of developing breast cancer. The probability of dying of breast cancer in US Catholic sisters has been shown to be as high as 1% among those aged 60 through 69 years, 2% among those aged 70 through 79 years, and 3% among those 80 years of age and older (which is approximately 50%, 110%, and 180% higher, respectively, than probabilities for the general US female population).² Based on these considerations, we investigated the frequency of routine (screening) mammography in a population of elderly Catholic sisters.

Study.—

In 1986, . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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