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SURVEY RESULTS

The National Ovarian Cancer Coalition sponsored the "Break the Silence" survey to accurately measure the lack of awareness and knowledge among women about ovarian cancer in order to develop an educational campaign that addresses the disease disparities.

On behalf of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, Impulse Research Corporation conducted the online survey in March and April 2006 with a random sample of 1,003 women age 40 and over, representing a cross-section of US women in that age group. The overall sampling error for this survey is +/- 3% at the 95% level of confidence.

• Only 15% of women are familiar with the symptoms of ovarian cancer.
  
• 82% of women have never talked to their doctor about the symptoms and risk factors of ovarian cancer.
  
• 54% of women who haven’t spoken to their doctor about ovarian cancer don’t think it’s an issue since their doctor never initiated the discussion.
  
• 40% of women stated they are not sure about the risk factors of ovarian cancer.

• 67% of women incorrectly believe that a yearly Pap test is effective in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
  
• Many women incorrectly identified the use of high dose estrogen without progesterone (35 percent) and extended use of the birth control pill (27 percent) as risk factors.
  
  • Women who have used oral contraceptives for three or more years have about a 30-50 percent lower risk of developing ovarian cancer.

• 53% of women are familiar with the symptoms of breast cancer while only 15% are familiar with the symptoms of ovarian.
  
• 59% of women have talked to their doctor about breast cancer; only 18% have talked to their doctor ovarian cancer.