Low mammogram screening rates

Filed in archive Diagnostics on September 13, 2005

Mammogram screening rates may be lower than previously thought:

Most studies -- usually based on self-reported data -- suggest that about 80% of women are routinely screened for breast cancer by mammography, said Patricia Carney, Ph.D., of Dartmouth Medical School here. That's true for New Hampshire.

But when Dr. Carney and colleagues compared census data with a statewide registry in New Hampshire, they found only about 64% of women routinely have screening mammograms. Put another way, Dr. Carney said, 36% of women in New Hampshire have either never had a mammogram or haven't had one for more than 27 months.

"That's way lower than we thought," Dr. Carney said. "We thought we were doing better than that." The study is published in the on-line edition of the journal Cancer.

It is recommended that mammograms be done every 1-2 years after age 40.