Background

Our aim was to compare women’s experience with automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) versus breast hand-held ultrasound (HHUS) and to evaluate their acceptance rate.

Methods

After ethical approval, from October 2017 to March 2018, 79 consecutive patients were enrolled in this prospective study. On the same day, patients underwent HHUS followed by ABUS. Each patient’s experience was assessed using the modified testing morbidities index (TMI) (the lower the score, the better is the experience). Nine items were assessed for both techniques: seven directly related to the examination technique (pain or discomfort immediately before (preparation), during and after testing, fear or anxiety immediately before (preparation) and during testing, physical and mental function after testing) and two indirectly related to the examination technique (embarrassment during testing and overall satisfaction). Finally, we asked patients to choose between the two techniques for a potential next breast examination. Wilcoxon signed ranks test was used.

Results

The median TMI score for the seven items was found to be significantly better for HHUS (8, interquartile range [IQR] 7–11) compared to ABUS (9, IQR 8–12) (p = 0.003). The item ‘pain/discomfort during the test’ (p < 0.001) was significantly higher for ABUS compared to HHUS. Instead, the item ‘fear/anxiety before the test’ was higher for HHUS (p = 0.001). Overall, 40.5% of the patients chose HHUS, 29.1% chose ABUS, and 30.4% were unable to choose.

Conclusions

ABUS and HHUS exams were well tolerated and accepted. However, HHUS was perceived to be less painful than ABUS.

中文翻译：

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乳房超声检查：自动还是手持？探索患者的经验和偏好。

背景

我们的目的是比较女性使用自动乳房超声检查（ABUS）与手持式乳房超声检查（HHUS）的经历，并评估她们的接受率。

方法

经伦理学批准后，从2017年10月到2018年3月，该前瞻性研究招募了79位连续患者。在同一天，患者接受了HHUS，随后进行了ABUS。使用修改后的测试发病率指数（TMI）评估每个患者的经历（分数越低，体验越好）。两项技术共评估了9个项目：与检查技术直接相关的七个项目（（准备）之前，测试期间和之后的疼痛或不适，（准备）之前以及测试期间的恐惧或焦虑，测试之后的身体和精神功能）和两项与检查技术间接相关（测试期间的尴尬和整体满意度）。最后，我们要求患者在两种技术之间进行选择，以进行可能的下一次乳房检查。

结果

与ABUS（9，IQR 8-12）相比，HHUS（8，四分位间距[IQR] 7-11）的七个项目的TMI分数中位数显着更好（p = 0.003）。与HHUS相比，ABUS项目“测试期间的疼痛/不适”（p <0.001）显着更高。相反，HHUS的“测试前的恐惧/焦虑”项目更高（p = 0.001）。总体而言，40.5％的患者选择了HHUS，29.1％的患者选择了ABUS，30.4％的患者无法选择。

结论

ABUS和HHUS考试得到了很好的容忍和接受。但是，HHUS被认为比ABUS的痛苦要小。