Mammography Screening Utilization in Female Veterans Using Cross-Sectional Survey Results from the National Health...

Although women are the fastest growing group of veterans across all military branches, there are limited data about mammography screening utilization in female veterans. Using a nationally representative cross-sectional survey, we evaluated the association between veteran status and mammography screening.

Female survey respondents aged 40 to 74 in the 2019 National Health Interview Survey without history of breast cancer were included. The proportion of patients who reported undergoing mammography screening in the last year was estimated, stratified by veteran status. Logistic regression analyses evaluated the association between screening and veteran status, adjusted for potential confounders. Analyses accounted for complex survey sampling design to obtain valid estimates for the civilian, noninstitutionalized US population.

In all, 8,996 female survey respondents met inclusion criteria (veterans 1.9% [estimated 1,190,169 women], military health coverage 3.2% [estimated 2,156,863 women]). Of the veterans, 57.9% reported screening mammography within the last year, and 55.2% of nonveterans reported screening mammography within the last year. Veteran status was not associated with differences in mammography screening percentages (P = .959). Among survey participants with health insurance, military health insurance was not associated with differences in mammography screening percentages (P = .132).

Female veterans were comparably likely to undergo mammography screening in our unadjusted and adjusted analyses. With more than 1 million female veterans and growing eligible for mammography screening in the United States, radiology practices should design proactive outreach strategies to address the needs of veterans who may face increased breast cancer risk due to military environmental exposures.