Correlates of repeat and recent mammography for women ages 45 to 75 in the 2002 to 2003 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 2003).

BACKGROUND

Most national-level mammography data are for ever-had and most-recent screening. There are few national-level data on rates of repeat, on-schedule mammography, and on the prevalence and correlates of repeat mammography. It is also important to investigate the similarity of correlates for repeat and recent mammography.

METHODS

Analyses were from data for women ages 45 to 75 in the 2002 to 2003 Health Information and National Trends Survey (HINTS 2003; N = 1,581). The two dependent variables were self-report of repeat mammography (two exams on schedule, based on an every-other-year interval) and recent mammography only (one mammogram within the past 2 years).

RESULTS

The prevalence of recent mammography was 81.6% (95% confidence interval, 79.1-84.1) and for repeat mammography was 72.2% (95% confidence interval, 69.0-75.4). An access to care variable combining insurance coverage and regular source of care was the strongest sociodemographic correlate of both mammography indicators. Most other sociodemographic variables were not associated with mammography status. Five psychosocial/behavioral variables were associated with both mammography indicators (smoking status, attention to health information, knowledge of screening interval, worry about breast cancer, and recent mood status). Correlates were very similar for repeat and recent mammography.

CONCLUSIONS

Although access to care had the strongest association with mammography, psychosocial and behavioral variables did better as a group than the sociodemographic variables. A standard set of such variables should be considered for all national surveys.