Women in Their 40’s and Mammogram Screening Rates

Source: NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – According to researchers, women in their 40s didn’t stop having annual mammograms during 2010, the year after a government-backed panel suggested annual breast cancer screening should be optional for them. Researchers found that the odds of U.S. women between the ages of 40 and 49 getting a mammogram remained stable from 2006 to 2010. So did mammography rates among women in their 40s relative to those of older women, who were still advised to get regular breast cancer screenings. “That signals to us that (the women) or providers may be hesitant to change their behaviors based on recommendations,” said Dr. Lauren Block, the study’s lead author from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), a government-backed panel of preventive medicine experts, made headlines in December