Introduction: Breast cancer has been the most common cancer in Slovenian women since 1968. Mammography is one of fundamental investigations in the early detection of breast cancer. With use of mammography we can detect breast cancer when it is not yet tactile, its diameter does not exceed size of ten millimeters and it does not show a clinical picture. Purpose: The purpose is to determine whether the compression force, breast thickness and average glandular dose will change on mammography in CC projection if the patient compresses her breast compared to the conventional protocol where compression is performed by radiological engineer. We will also compare potential distinctions in compression force between left and right breast, and find out whether image quality deteriorates in a case of self-compression compared to conventional protocol. Methods: In the study, we used a cross-sectional study with an experimental method. The study included 200 patients. One hundred patients initially performed self-control of right breast compression, then the left breast was compressed by a radiological engineer using a standard method. In the second group, a radiological engineer initially made a standard image on the right breast, then the left breast was compressed by patients themselves. Compression force (N), breast thickness (mm) and mean glandular dose (MGD) were recorded for each patient. According to collected results, two radiologists assessed a quality of images. Results: On average, the thickness of the breast with self-compression was 2.43mm lesser than the thickness of the breast imaged by the standard method. On average, the compression force of a self-compression was 19.8N greater than in a case of compression performed by a radiological engineer. The average glandular dose in self-compression is lower by 0.09mGy compared to the standard method, the difference is statistically significant in the mean, but this difference is very small, almost negligible. There are no statistically significant differences between left and right self-compression in breast thickness, compression force, and average glandular dose. In the overall assessment of all criteria, we proved that there were no statistically significant differences in the rate of images between compression performed by radiological engineer and self-compression. Discussion and conclusion: The results showed that self-compression is better than standard compression performed by a radiological engineer. For patients, self-compression represents a kind of active participation in investigation, and gives them a chance to distance themselves from a pain.
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