An examination of differential follow-up rates in breast cancer screening

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that follow-up rates for women with abnormal breast screening results would vary by age, ethnicity and initial screening results in California's Breast Cervical Cancer Control Program. The sample was composed of women in this screening program who had received abnormal clinical breast exam (N = 5239) or mammography results (N = 1202). Chi-squared analysis showed significant differences by age and initial screening results but in logistic regression analysis the only demographic variable to retain significance in analysis was age, although size of the clinic was also highly significant. Older women should be targeted as a group needing assistance with compliance with follow-up recommendations.