Statistical Brief #22 

Use of Mammography as a Cancer Screening Tool, 2001 

By: May Chu, B.S. 

Introduction 

Mammography can help locate cancers too small to be detected during a clinical 

breast examination. Recommendations exist regarding the appropriate intervals for 

obtaining routine mammography screening in women over 40 to detect early breast 

cancer. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPTF) guidelines recommend 

mammography screening every 1–2 years for women aged 40 and older. The 

American Cancer Society (ACS) recommends mammography screening annually for 

all women over 40. 

Health insurance coverage is a factor associated with an individual’s utilization of 

health services, and it may also be associated with access to and use of 

preventive services. This report examines the relationship between health 

insurance coverage status in the first half of 2001 and mammography screening 

rates among women between the ages of 40 to 64 in the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population in 2001. 

Briefly Stated 

x Three quarters (75.4%) of women 40-64 received a mammography 

screening within the last 2 years. 

x Women covered by private health insurance were more likely to obtain 

mammography screening exams than those covered by public insurance 

only or lacking insurance coverage entirely. 

x Older women, 50-64, had a consistently higher rate of mammography 

screening compliance than younger women, 40-49, regardless of health 

insurance status. 

Findings 

Based on preliminary data from the 2001 MEPS, almost 60 percent (58.0%) of 

women 40-64 in the United States received a mammography screening within 

the last year while three quarters (75.4%) had been screened for breast cancer 
within the last 2 years (Figure 1). Relative to younger women, older women 

were more likely to have obtained mammography screening. Approximately 70 

percent of women aged 40-49 received a mammography screening in the past 

two years versus 81 percent (80.6%) of women 50-64 (Figures 2 and 3). 

There was significant variation in mammography screening rates by health 

insurance coverage status. Approximately 75 percent (75.5%) of women aged 

40-49 with private coverage received a mammography screening in the past two 

years, compared with 62 percent (62.3%) of women with public-only coverage 

and only 44 percent (44.3 %) of the uninsured (Figure 2). Rates of 

mammography screening also varied by insurance status for women aged 50-

64. Approximately 86 percent (86.2%) of women aged 50-64 with private 

coverage received a mammography screening in the past two years, compared 

with 75 percent (75.3%) of women with public-only coverage and 54 percent 

(54.4%) of the uninsured (Figure 3). 

About MEPS 

The estimates in this Statistical Brief are based on preliminary data from the 

2001 Medical Panel Expenditure Survey Household Component (MEPS-HC). 

This data set contains a sample of 34,173 persons with a response rate of about 

71.4%. The MEPS is a nationally representative longitudinal survey that collects 

detailed information on health care utilization and expenditures, health insurance, 

health status, as well as a wide variety of social, demographic, and economic 

characteristics for the civilian non-institutionalized population. This Statistical 

Brief examines the preventive care data that were collected in Rounds 3 and 5 of 

the MEPS survey. The health insurance coverage information in this Statistical 

Brief pertains to the first half of 2001. Missing data for mammography ranged 

from 2-3%, and were excluded from the analysis. All results presented in this 

statistical brief are statistically significant at the .05 level. More information about 

MEPS can be found at the MEPS web site at http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/. 

For a detailed description of the MEPS survey design, sample design, and 

methods used to reduce sources of nonsampling error, see the following 

publications: 

Cohen, J. Design and Methods of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 

Household Component: Rockville (MD) Agency for Health Care Policy 

and Research; 1997. MEPS Methodology Report No. 1. AHCPR Pub. 

No. 97-0026. 

Cohen, S. Sample Design of the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 

Household Component. Rockville (MD) Agency for Health Care Policy 

and Research; 1997. MEPS Methodology Report No. 2. AHCPR Pub. 

No. 97-0027. 
For more information on current guidelines for cancer screenings refer to the 

following sources: 

Guide to Clinical Preventive Services, Report of the U.S. Preventive 

Services Task Force, 3rd Edition: Periodic Updates (available Winter 

2002/03) 

Screening for Breast Cancer, 2002 

USPSTF guidelines are also available at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/cps3dix.htm