Making Mammography a Habit

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,