Mammography Utilization Trends at a Safety-Net Center

Abstract

Among uninsured and resource-poor populations, community safety net clinics are important providers of breast cancer screening services however there is little data on screening utilization patterns. Using data from a safety net screening center in Washington DC, we assessed time trends in mammography utilization by selected sociodemographic factors. Prospectively collected demographic data were abstracted from the electronic medical records of the Capital Breast Care Center (CBCC) during 2010 – 2015. Time trends of mammography utilization over the 6 years were calculated and statistical significance of the differences between trends by the selected sociodemographic factors was analyzed using the Cochran-Armitage test.  8448 Black/ African-American and Hispanic women were screened at CBCC with 106 diagnoses of breast cancer. The proportion of women <50 years of age declined over the 6- year study period. Trends in the racial/ethnic composition of the women screened shifted, with African-American women decreasing, while the proportion of Latina patients increased (p-value <0.0001). In this analysis of women presenting for breast cancer screening, over a 6- year period there were significant trends towards an older age at screening, an increase in Hispanic women being screened, and an increasing proportion residing outside the District of Columbia.