Self-reported use of mammography and insurance status among women aged > or =40 years--United States, 1991-1992 and 1996-1997.

In the United States, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy among women and the second leading cause of cancer death. Lack of health insurance coverage often is an important financial barrier to seeking preventive health care such as mammography screenings. To assess mammography use and the impact of insurance status on mammography use, state-specific proportions of women aged > or =40 years who reported receiving a mammogram during the preceding 2 years by insurance status were derived using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for 1991-1992 and 1996-1997. This report describes the results of this analysis, which indicate that the percentage of women reporting having had a screening mammogram during the previous 2 years increased, but women with insurance were substantially more likely than women without insurance to have had a mammogram.