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TPDN 1989, Vol. 49, No. 21 Page 2
MMWR Editorial Note: The BRFSS information
presented here generally agrees with data from
other surveys. A Gallup poll conducted in De-
cember 1987 showed that 40% of women aged >40
years had had a mammogram in the previous one
to three years, an 18% increase from 1983.
Similarly, data from the National Health Inter-
view Survey, collected in the first quarter of
1987, showed that 31% of women aged >40 years
had had screening mammograms, about half
within the previous year. However, these data
also indicated that black women were less likely
than white women to have had mammograms.
The importance of screening mammograms for
early detection of breast cancer in women and
for subsequent reduction of breast cancer mor-
tality is well established. Consequently, the ACS
recommends annual mammograms for all women
aged >50 years, mammogram at 1- to 2-year
intervals for women aged 40-49 years, and a
baseline mammogram for comparative purposes
for women aged 35-39 years. In addition, the ACS
recommends women begin monthly breast sell'-
examination at age 20 years and receive annual
breast examinations by a health-care provider
beginning at age 40 years and every 3 years from
age 20 to 40 years. NCI recommends a mammo-
gram every 1 to 2 years for women aged 40-49
years and annually for women >50 years. NCI
also encourages monthly breast self-examination
and encourages physicians to do clinical breast
examination as part of a periodic examination.
Early breast cancer detection is promoted nation-
wide by the ACS. During the past two years,
these efforts have been emphasized to alert
women and health professionals to the life-
saving potential of appropriate screening for
breast cancer.
The data from the 1987 BRFSS suggest that the
media events and educational activities were
accompanied by increases in screening mammo-
grams. Although the observed increases may be
related to enhanced public awareness during the
ACS spring campaign and after Mrs. Reagan's
diagnosis, the BRFSS data only generally support
that notion. Baseline data from the BRFSS arc
not available for comparison, and many other
factors (eg, education, convenience, cost) can
influence the response to cancer-control recom-
mendations. Increased understanding of how
such factors interact to influence prevention
behavior will require more detailed survey
information. For example, trends in different
locations may vary by time. In states where ACS
programs for early detection of breast cancer
have been operating longest, increased use of
screening mammograms might be expected.
Data from the BRFSS regarding geographic
patterns of mammogram use would help in ex-
amining this hypothesis.
Because many factors may have influenced the
increase in the percentage of women who
reported being screened, the observed month-to-
month changes cannot be directly attributed to
any specific events that occurred during 1987.
However, the BRFSS data suggest that efforts to
promote the use of screening mammograms
combined with media attention to the early
detection of breast cancer may have resulted in
an increased use of screening mammograms
during 1987. Increased use of screening
mammograms and targeting of cancer-control
efforts at lower socioeconomic segments of the
population (where cancer risks are often higher
and health- care access is more difficult) should
result in earlier detection of breast cancer and
a subsequent reduction of mortality from breast
cancer.
* * *
NOTICE TO READERS
Texas Preventable Disease News (PDN) welcomes
The editor of
communicable disease and other public health problems encountered and investigated by local
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T PDN 1989, Vol. 49, No. 21
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