The Relationship Between Health-Related Social Needs and Screening Mammography Among Women Seeking Care at a...

In this study, we examined the relationship between health-related social needs (HRSNs) and screening mammography.

We gathered data from April 2020 to February 2021 among women ages 52-74 years at a federally qualified community health center network in the Chicago region. We measured HRSNs using a one-item screener, and among those screening positive, with an eight-item questionnaire. Screening mammography was measured as (1) ever having mammography and (2) mammography completed in the past 2 years. We examined the relationship between HRSNs in the one-item and multi-item questionnaires and both measures of screening mammography using logistic regression.

Among 3711 women, mean age was 60 years, 68% were Hispanic/Latino, 62% were best served in Spanish, 39% had no insurance, and 71% had incomes <100% federal poverty level. In total, 32% reported an HRSN in the one-item screener. Of these, 74% completed the multi-item questionnaire; changes in income (60%) and inadequate access to food (46%) were the most common HRSNs reported. Overall, 65% reported prior mammography and 47% reported mammography in the past 2 years. There was an association between prior mammography and the one-item screener (odds ratio = 0.83, 95% confidence intervals = 0.70, 0.98), but no association between recent mammography and HRSNs reported in the one-item, specific HRSNs, or number of HRSNs.

We found an association between ever having a mammogram and a positive one-item screener, but not in relation to specific HRSNs. The findings of this study may inform future assessments of HRSNs and understanding their relationships with preventive health care.