Rural Medicare beneficiaries less likely to use mammography screening

Medicare beneficiaries who live in rural areas undergo mammography screening less than their urban counterparts, according to research published November 13 in Geriatric Nursing. A team led by Zhaoli Liu, PhD, from the University of Texas at Arlington, found that Hispanic women on Medicare in rural areas are about 33% less likely to regularly undergo screening mammography, while non-Hispanic Black Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas were about 22% less likely to undergo regular screening. “The findings … highlight the importance of addressing rural racial disparities in mammography utilization among older women to ensure equitable screening practices for all populations,” Liu and colleagues wrote. Previous studies have demonstrated health disparities in mammography screening in relation to race, ethnicity, and geographic location. However, the researchers noted a lack of data on the interaction of these factors in breast cancer screening. Liu and co-authors investigated longitudinal patterns in mammography screening practices in relation to rural racial and ethnic disparities within these practices among Medicare beneficiaries. They used Texas Medicare data and assessed the women’s repeat mammography screening behavior every two years from the age of 65 and up to 10 years. The team also explored factors at the individual and county levels tied to long-term adherence to mammography screening practices. The researchers included data from 114,939 female Medicare b...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Subspecialties Womens Imaging Breast Imaging Source Type: news