Mammography use from 2000 to 2006: state-level trends with corresponding breast cancer incidence rates

Although breast cancer incidence and mortality rates have declined, a significant number of women are affected by this disease each year. Mammography is currently the most effective way to detect breast cancer at an early stage when it is most treatable, but there have been reports of decreasing or stagnant mammography use in the United States. For this study, we investigated the trend in mammography use for each state in comparison with the corresponding breast cancer incidence trend.

We used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006 to assess the percentage of women >or= 40 years old who reported undergoing mammography within the past 2 years and data from the National Program of Cancer Registries and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program to assess breast cancer incidence rates from 2000 through 2004, the latest year for which data were available at the time of the study.

The majority of states had a decreasing tendency in mammography use from 2000 to 2006. Only one state had a statistically significant increase in reported mammography use, whereas two states had significant decreases. There was a correlation between breast cancer incidence rates and mammography use by states (r = 0.6), but no correlation between the time trends in breast cancer incidence rates and mammography use was observed.

There was little statistically significant change in self-reported mammography use from 2000 to 2006. Continued monitoring of breast cancer screening practices and breast cancer incidence trends is important for targeting at-risk populations with effective interventions to improve breast cancer prevention and early detection.