The distribution of West Virginia women targeted for screening of breast and cervical cancers.

The primary strategy for the control of female breast and cervical cancers is early diagnosis and treatment from periodic screenings. To effectively provide screenings, it is important to target the populations that especially need these services. Based on state health objectives and an analysis of data from the 1990 Census, about 33% of the women in West Virginia are targeted for routine screening for breast cancer by clinical breast examination and mammograms, while about 77% are targeted for routine screening for cervical cancer by the Papanicolaou test. Since the racial and age distributions of women vary across Public Health Management Districts in the state, it is critical to determine the exact extent of breast and cervical cancers in West Virginia for geographic and other populations of women. In addition, the results demonstrate a need for age-adjustment when comparing measures of the cancers across geographic areas.