Breast Cancer Screening Shows Gaps in Women Aged 40-49 Years

TOPLINE:

Among 20.1 million women aged 40-49 years, only 59.2% underwent biennial mammography screening, with significantly lower rates observed in racial and ethnic minority populations, sexual minority populations, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. The absence of a usual place for care was strongly associated with both overdue and no mammography screening.

METHODOLOGY:

• A cross-sectional analysis utilized nationally representative data from the National Health Interview Survey in 2019 and 2021, examining women aged 40-49 years without previous breast cancer diagnosis.
• Researchers studied populations including racial and ethnic minorities, sexual minorities, rural residents, individuals with disabilities, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.
• Analysis classified mammography screening into three categories: Biennial (within past 2 years), overdue (more than 2 years ago), and no screening (never received).
• Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed with survey sampling weights to identify factors associated with overdue and no mammography screening.

TAKEAWAY:

• Among the study population, 11.7 million women (59.2%) reported biennial screening, 3 million (15.2%) reported overdue screening, and 5 million (25.6%) had never undergone mammography screening.
• Lack of usual care was significantly associated with higher likelihood of overdue screening (risk difference [RD], 0.07; 95% CI, 0.01-0.14) and no screening (RD, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.13-0.28).
• Being non-Hispanic Asian (RD, 0.09; 95% CI, 0.01-0.18) and having lower family income were associated with higher probability of no screening.
• Uninsured status significantly increased the likelihood of no mammography screening (RD, 0.13; 95% CI, 0.06-0.21).

IN PRACTICE:

“To optimize early breast cancer detection, ensuring equitable adherence to USPSTF recommendations is crucial. To reduce racial disparities in breast cancer mortality, efforts should focus on addressing delays and ensuring guideline-concordant treatment,” the authors of the study wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Tianshu Gu, MD, College of Graduate Health Sciences, University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, Tennessee. It was published online on December 20 in JAMA Network Open.

LIMITATIONS:

According to the authors, this study was limited by data collection occurring during a period when biennial mammography screening was considered an individual decision rather than a recommendation for all women aged 40-49 years.

DISCLOSURES:

This study received support from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health (Award No. R0IMD018766 to Gu; Shelley White-Means, PhD; and Minghui Li, PhD). The authors reported no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.