Study: Low-Income Women With Regular Doctor More Likely to Get Mammograms

Low-income, inner-city women are more likely to get breast cancer screenings if their primary healthcare provider gives comprehensive, well-organized services, according to researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center.

This population of women has been shown in previous research to be less likely to get regular cancer screenings and more likely to die from late-stage cancer than other women.

Researchers developed a study to examine the impact of specific primary care delivery characteristics on willingness to have cancer screenings while considering attitudinal, socioeconomic and insurance barriers to screening.

A total of 1,205 primarily low-income African American women over age 40 were surveyed. Researchers focused on whether the women were following cancer screening recommendations for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers.

Low-income African American women have been shown to die from these diseases at a much higher rate than women in other ethnic and economic groups.

The women in the study were more likely to be screened if they saw a specific primary care clinician on a regular basis, the researchers reported in the Journal of Geriatric Medicine.

"Although progress has been made in narrowing the gap in screening rates between minority and non-minority populations, barriers to screening persist even among the insured," wrote the researchers. "Health care education aimed at patients should stress the importance of identifying a primary care provider and of obtaining screening through that provider."

"Primary care delivery sites providing coordinated, comprehensive, accessible care that involved a strong patient-clinician relationship were likely to improve the women's adherence to cancer screening recommendations," concluded the researchers.

Researchers also found that women in private HMOs were more likely to get regular screenings than uninsured women or those enrolled in public or private non-HMO insurance programs.

Other Sources: Georgetown University Medical Center