Examining screening mammography participation among women aged 40 to 74.

OBJECTIVE

To examine participation in screening mammography among women aged 40 to 74 and identify which factors are associated with those women who participate in screening.

DESIGN

Secondary analysis of the cross-sectional 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey.

SETTING

Canada.

PARTICIPANTS

A population-based national sample of 18 312 women aged 40 to 74.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Women's participation in screening mammography in the 2 years preceding the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey; women's preventive health activities (ie, having a regular doctor, a recent physical checkup, and a Papanicolaou test), which were adjusted for sociodemographic factors.

RESULTS

Participation in recent screening mammography was highest among women aged 60 to 69 (70.3%), followed by those aged 50 to 59 (63.4%) and those aged 70 to 74 (58.4%). Almost one-third (31.4%) of women aged 40 to 49 had had a screening mammogram in the past 2 years. Having a regular doctor (odds ratio [OR] = 3.30, 95% CI 2.90 to 3.73), a physical checkup in the past year (OR = 3.06, 95% CI 2.30 to 4.08), or a Pap test in the past 3 years (OR = 3.47, 95% CI 3.18 to 3.79) more than tripled the odds that women had had a recent screening mammogram.

CONCLUSION

Aside from age being a factor associated with women's participation in screening mammography, factors related to women's health care use (having a regular doctor, a recent physical checkup, and a recent Pap test) demonstrated a stronger association with women aged 40 to 74 having had recent mammograms. The association between women's participation in screening and their preventive health activities implies that the doctor's office is an appropriate venue for conversations regarding the potential benefits and harms of screening mammography.