Geographic disparities in travel-time-based accessibility to mammography in the United States.

Keywords: mammography, breast cancer, geographic disparities, screening
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

While mammography is widely available in the U.S., differences in accessibility in rural and urban areas and changes over time are not well described. In this study, we estimated the number and proportion of women aged 45-84 years who had limited travel-time-based geographic accessibility to mammography by urban/rural status and state in the contiguous U.S. in 2006 and 2022. The proportion of women aged 45-84 years with limited accessibility to mammography did not substantially change from 2006 (12.7%; representing 7.5 million women) to 2022 (12.2%; 8.2 million women). Accessibility to mammography varied by state, but in 10 states, >26% of the statewide female population aged 45-84 years had limited accessibility in 2022. This proportion was substantially higher in rural areas (50.6% overall; ≥50% in 28 states in 2022) than in urban areas (3.0% overall). Increasing accessibility to mammography could increase utilization of breast cancer screening, and potentially, improve breast cancer survival.