An analysis of the sociodemographic factors contributing to patient nonadherence to recommendations for screening mammograms.

Abstract

e13077 Background: There were 2 million newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer in the United States during 2018 with 40,920 associated deaths1. The number of deaths has been decreasing over time due to effective breast cancer screening by mammogram. Routine mammograms lead to early recognition and treatment of breast cancer leading to an overall improvement in breast cancer outcomes. However, not all patients are adherent to screening mammogram schedules. The main aim of this study is to explore the current prevalence of breast cancer screening among women in the US. A secondary aim is to determine whether cancer screening is associated with identifiable sociodemographic determinants and cigarette smoking. Methods: Data were drawn from the Health Information National Trends Survey- (HINTS), a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey (N = 3,527) conducted in 2018. Responses from women aged 18-74 were used in this study. Descriptive analyses and chi-squared tests were conducted to estimate the prevalence of breast cancer screening by mammogram, as well as its association with certain sociodemographic characteristics and smoking status. Results: The survey sample included 1,722 women. The majority of the respondents were aged 45 years or older. A total of 5% of women had previously been diagnosed with breast cancer, most of them being between 65 and 74 years old. Overall, 22.1% of respondents reported that they had never had a mammogram. Breast cancer screening was significantly lower among young women aged 18 to 34 (76.0%), Hispanic (28.2%) and Asian (39.7%), and current smokers (24.6%). Conclusions: This study shows that there is a significant percentage of women in the US that do not adhere to screening recommendations for breast cancer. This study provides new and continuing evidence, regarding the profiles of women with poor adherence to these screening mammogram schedules. Overall, the findings from this study emphasize the importance of addressing racial and sociodemographic factors in an effort to improve screening mammogram adherence.