Progress on mammography targets

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A study shows that mammography use is on the increase and already exceeds Government targets.
The Government's Healthy People 2010 initiative is calling for 70 per cent of women to be having mammography by the year 2010. A survey from Virginia Commonwealth University covering over 93,000 women shows that 76.4 per cent of women over 40 have had a mammogram in the last two years - which exceeds the 2010 target.

Take up of mammography increases with age, but there are some groups who are missing out. For instance, only 48.1 per cent of those without a personal doctor or health-care provider have had a mammogram within the last two years. However, the trend, overall, is up because in 1998 only 67 per cent of women over 40 had had a mammogram in the previous two years. Efforts now must be directed towards increasing take up of mammography in the groups who are less likely to have one.

Source
American Journal of Health Promotion July/August 2005 Volume 19 Number 6

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