BREAST-CANCER SCREENING PRACTICES AMONG USERS OF COUNTY-FUNDED HEALTH CENTERS VS WOMEN IN THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY

Background. Breast cancer screening rates tend to be lower among women with lower income and/or education. Methods. Telephone surveys of random samples of women aged 50 to 75 who had visited five health centers (n = 795) and women in the same age group residing in the entire community (n = 404) were conducted in 1988. Results. Despite the significantly lower socioeconomic level, a higher proportion of minority women, and a poorer knowledge of mammography, screening rates in the health center group were not lower than in the community sample. About half or more of the health center respondents had ever had a mammogram regardless of income, education, age, and ethnic group. Of the community respondents, 49% had ever had a mammogram, but the proportion varied significantly by income and education. Within the subgroup of women having annual incomes below $15 000, mammography use was actually higher among health center women; that is, 50% of health center vs 35% of community women reported ever having a mammogram and 31% vs 14%, respectively, reported having a mammogram in the past year. Conclusion. The findings demonstrate the importance of publicly funded health centers in achieving screening rates among the socioeconomically disadvantaged that are comparable to (or even higher than) those in the general population.