Many Women Who Get
Mammograms Fail To Return for Routine Screenings
Behind the Cancer Headlines®
A new study finds the number of women getting routine screening mammography may be less than previously reported. The study, published in the journal Cancer, finds as many as one in three women have never had a mammogram or have not had one in more than two years, and that many women have one or two mammograms then fail to return for regular screenings.
While screening mammography has been
credited with significant improvements in breast cancer outcomes, the success
of campaigns to increase screening use have not shown consistent improvements.
In
Registries, like the New Hampshire Mammography Network
(NHMN), track actual use by communities, suggesting more accurate data on use.
Led by Patricia A. Carney, Ph.D. of the
The researchers found 36 percent of women 40 and over in
Among those women who had received screening in their lifetime, only 65 percent received routine screening within the recommended one to two year interval. The remaining 35 percent had one or two screening mammograms and did not return with 27 months.
Carney and her colleagues conclude that "routine
mammography screening may be occurring less often than believed when survey
data alone are used." They call for further study to explore the reasons
women had one or two mammograms only and then did not return for additional
screening.
SOURCE:
Cancer,