ATLANTA, Feb 3, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. states
had a small decrease in mammography utilization from 2000 to 2006, federal
health officials said.
The study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta showed
that although mammography use in 17 states had increased slightly during the
period, usage in the rest of the states and the District of Columbia had a
slight decrease. The decrease in utilization ranged from 0.3 percent to 5.3
percent.
The CDC also reviewed incidence rates and found that between 2000 and 2004 all
but one state -- Tennessee -- had a decrease in breast cancer incidence rates.
There was no clear pattern among the states though in regard to region, average
age, average income or population density.
"The Government Accountability Office reported that there was a 6 percent
decrease in mammography facilities use across the United States, but despite
their report there is a growing concern that this rate in low resource areas
could be higher, the study's lead author, Dr. Jacqueline Miller, said in a
statement.
"Reports have shown that insurance co-pays were related to women not getting
their mammogram and we know that some insurance companies have increased their
co-pay requirements -- women start weighing the costs of screening against other
competing factors."
The study appears in the journal American Journal of Roentgenology.
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