Mammograms Less Likely Among Low-Income Women, CDC Report Finds

Women without high school diplomas or with annual household incomes of less than $15,000 are less likely to receive mammograms than women with more education and higher incomes, according to a CDC report published on Thursday in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. The report, which focused on 35 metropolitan areas nationwide, examined 2000 census data and records from a national health survey conducted by telephone in 2002. According to the report, 78.5% of women ages 40 and older said that they had received a mammogram within the previous two years.

Among those women, 68.4% with annual household incomes of less than $15,000 underwent mammograms, compared with 82.5% with annual household incomes of more than $50,000, the report found. The report said that more study is required to determine the reasons for the disparity, although the difference might result from factors such as access to health care, cost, availability of public transportation or availability of public heath clinics (McVicar, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 10/7). The complete report is available online.