MONDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- After steadily increasing since 1987, mammography rates in the United States dropped from 70 percent in 2000 to 66 percent in 2005, according to study findings published online May 14 in Cancer.
Nancy Breen, Ph.D., from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., and colleagues examined mammography rates from 1987-2005 using information from the National Health Interview Survey.
The researchers found that mammography rates steadily increased from 1987-2000 and were flat from 2000-2003. The rates declined to 66 percent in 2005 from 70 percent in 2000, particularly in women with previously reported high screening rates, including those 50 to 64 years old and those with high incomes.
"The results confirmed that the use of mammography may be falling," Breen and colleagues conclude. "The looming questions are whether the decline in mammography will continue and how it will affect mortality rates from breast cancer."
Abstract
Full Text
