Read All About It: The Over-Representation of Breast Cancer in Popular Magazines

Background. While women are far more likely to develop and die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) than breast cancer, research has shown that they markedly overestimate their personal risks of breast cancer and underestimate their CVD risks. The source of this disparity is not yet known, although increased media attention to breast cancer relative to CVD has been suggested to play a role. The purpose of the present study was to provide a first critical test of this possibility. Two hypotheses were tested: (a) the number of breast cancer articles would be greater than the number of CVD articles; and (b) this disparity in coverage would increase over the years. Methods. A web-based search engine was used to quantify all breast cancer and cardiovascular disease articles (keyword search) in 73 popular magazines on a annual basis for a 10-year interval (1990–1999). Results. Consistent with study hypotheses, breast cancer articles outnumbered CVD articles, and this disparity widened over the years (P < 0.0001). This disparity was not limited to specific magazine categories (e.g., womenʹs interest). Conclusions. Over-representation of breast cancer vis-a-vis CVD is pervasive in popular magazines. Future research should investigate how such disparities in the media may influence risk perceptions, adoption of preventive health behaviors, and compliance with screening guidelines.