[Physical breast examination].

The aim of the project was the comparison of the effectiveness of physical breast examination in relation to mammography on the basis of research analysis conducted within the program "The Early Diagnosis of Breast Cancer". The program was conducted at J. Sniadecki Hospital in Nowy Sacz in the year 2002. The physical examination was carried out by professional midwives. The documentation of 400 women who participated in the program was analyzed in order to gain the necessary information. Half of the participants have identified anomalies in breasts (202; 50.5%). There was no difference in the number of the mentioned anomalies between the group of the younger (55; 50.0%) and older women (147; 50.7%). One of the three anomalies diagnosed in mammography was earlier diagnosed in the physical examination. It is important to indicate that it seems more difficult to detect the anomalies in the group of younger women (13; 23.6%) than in the group of the older women (47; 32.0%). Among all anomalies diagnosed in mammography more than half (98; 53.3%) are mastopathies. Only one of the five mastopathies (19; 19.4%) was detected in physical examination. The majority of women who participated in the prevention program live in the city (244; 61.0%). Women from cities had more breast anomalies (53.3%) than women from the country (46.1%).