Background: With breast cancer being the leading cause of new cases of cancer among women and the second leading cause of death, prevention and early intervention are imperative for all populations. As such, screening is a key element of preventative care. East Bay Community Action Program (EBCAP), provides primary care to underserved communities in Rhode Island and aims to improve access to screening mammography. While Rhode Island as a state meets the national breast cancer screening objective with 85.5% of women meeting recommended guidelines, EBCAP’s screening rate is a mere 40% with a target of 60% suggesting a startling prevalence of barriers to care. Methods: We administered a survey by phone to women age 50-74 who had not had a mammogram in the last two years. Following a set script, we asked questions to assess adherence to recommended screening protocol, patient education, and perceived barriers to care based on those commonly referenced by women in literature and observed in this clinic population. The data was analyzed quantitatively along with a qualitative free text analysis of the written in portion. Results: 53 women completed the survey. A vast majority of women said they received information about the importance of screening from their providers and that they knew how to perform a self-check. Reported barriers fell into 11 categories that generalize into issues of access and education. Additionally, barriers varied across cities served by the clinic with no particular correlation to demographic makeup. Conclusion/Discussion: We suggest that in order to improve screening rates individually tailored patient education must be implemented to bolster a patient-driven decision making model. Likewise, preexisting services offered by EBCAP like insurance application assistance, reminder calls, and transportation services must be better utilized to meet needs surrounding screening procedures.
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Citation
Spezia, Mia,
"The Challenges of Mammography Utilization in Family Practice"
(2020).
Gateways to Medicine, Health Care, and Research.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.26300/xjqt-bg45
The Gateways Program at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University provides academically promising, motivated students new pathways to careers in the health sciences. This collection houses scholarly works produced by Master of Science in Medical Sciences (ScM) students …
