Findings on Breast Cancer Screening Reported by Investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (Missed Screening Mammography Appointments: Patient Sociodemographic Characteristics and Mammography Completion After 1 Year): Diagnostics and Screening – Breast Cancer Screening

Insurance Daily News

2024 NOV 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators publish new report on Diagnostics and Screening - Breast Cancer Screening. According to news originating from Boston, Massachusetts, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Patients who miss screening mammogram appointments without notifying the health care system (no-show) risk care delays. We investigate sociodemographic characteristics of patients who experience screening mammogram no-shows at a community health center and whether and when the missed examinations are completed.”

Financial support for this research came from CRICO/Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Massachusetts General Hospital, “We included patients with screening mammogram appointments at a community health center between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021. Language, race, ethnicity, insurance type, residential ZIP code tabulation area (ZCTA) poverty, appointment outcome (no-show, same-day cancelation, completed), and dates of completed screening mammograms after no-show appointments with >= 1-year follow-up were collected. Multivariable analyses were used to assess associations between patient characteristics and appointment outcomes. Of 6,159 patients, 12.1% (743 of 6,159) experienced no-shows. The no-show group differed from the completed group by language, race and ethnicity, insurance type, and poverty level (all P< .05). Patients with no-shows more often had: primary language other than English (32.0% [238 of 743] versus 26.7% [1,265 of 4,741]), race and ethnicity other than White non-Hispanic (42.3% [314 of 743] versus 33.6% [1,595 of 4,742]), Medicaid or means-tested insurance (62.0% [461 of 743] versus 34.4% [1,629 of 4,742]), and residential ZCTAs with >= 20% poverty (19.5% [145 of 743] versus 14.1% [670 of 4,742]). Independent predictors of no-shows were Black non- Hispanic race and ethnicity (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.52; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12-2.07; P = .007), Medicaid or other means-tested insurance (aOR, 2.75; 95% CI, 2.29-3.30; P< .001), and ZCTAs with >= 20% poverty (aOR, 1.76; 95% CI, 1.14-2.72; P = .011). At 1-year follow-up, 40.6% (302 of 743) of patients with no-shows had not completed screening mammogram.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Screening mammogram no-shows is a health equity issue in which socio-economically disadvantaged and racially and ethnically minoritized patients are more likely to experience missed appointments and continued delays in screening mammogram completion.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Missed Screening Mammography Appointments: Patient Sociodemographic Characteristics and Mammography Completion After 1 Year. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 2024;21(10):1645-1656. Journal of the American College of Radiology can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Inc, Ste 800, 230 Park Ave, New York, NY 10169, USA. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Journal of the American College of Radiology - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-the-american-college-of-radiology/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Gary X. Wang, Massachusetts General Hospital, Dept. of Radiology, Community Hlth & Equ, Boston, MA 02114, United States. Additional authors for this research include Elyse R. Park, Sarah F. Mercaldo, Jennifer E. Cahill, Jane M. Flanagan and Constance D. Lehman.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacr.2024.03.017. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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