An opinion poll revealed that more than 8 out of 10 women perceive the new guidelines that do not recommend routine breast cancer screening for women below the age of 50 as unsafe.

However, University of Massachusetts Medical School researchers in Worcester found out that the majority of the women gravely overestimate their risk to develop the disease.

A group of independent experts funded by the government decided to change its recommendations in late 2009. This flared up the controversy over breast cancer screening through mammography.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advised that women should only get routine breast cancer screening when they reach the age of 50 and not 40. The group also recommended that women between the age of 50 and 74 should only get mammograms every other year.

But, the group did not say that no women below 50 years old should be screened for breast cancer. They said the decision would be left to the woman and her doctor, based on the individual’s risk factors and preferences. Still, the recommendations faced staunch resistance from medical and advocacy groups, as well as from news organizations.

The opinion poll was carried out by Autumn Davidson and her colleagues to find out what women really think about it. They gave answer forms to 247 women in their 40s, who also came to the hospital for their yearly well-woman health screening.

The survey showed that 8 out of 10 women felt that the new guidelines were not safe and wanted annual mammograms. They said they would not delay the screening until the age of 50.