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Rural‐Urban Disparities in Access to Breast Cancer Screening: A Spatial Clustering Analysis
Author(s) -
Chandak Aastha,
Nayar Preethy,
Lin Ge
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the journal of rural health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.439
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1748-0361
pISSN - 0890-765X
DOI - 10.1111/jrh.12308
Subject(s) - mammography , medicine , breast cancer , breast cancer screening , psychological intervention , rural area , demography , cancer screening , cancer , census , environmental health , family medicine , population , nursing , pathology , sociology
Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine rural‐urban differences in access to breast cancer screening in a predominantly rural Midwestern state in the United States. Methods The study is a retrospective analysis of pooled cross‐sectional data for the years 2008 to 2012. We conducted hot spot analyses of the rate of late‐stage diagnosis of breast cancer at the census tract level in Nebraska for cases diagnosed between 2008 and 2012, using cancer registry data. We also conducted hot spot analyses of access to mammography facilities (distance to the nearest center) using data on mammography facilities from the US Food and Drug Administration and rates of screening using the National Private Insurance Claims data for year 2013. Results The spatial clustering analyses found that urban areas in Nebraska had lower distances to mammography centers, higher screening rates and lower rates of late‐stage diagnosis of breast cancer. Rural areas had higher distance to the mammography centers and higher rates of late‐stage at diagnosis for breast cancer. Conclusions The evidence from this study points to geographic disparities in access to screening for breast cancer. Mitigating the access issues that rural women face would require interventions specifically targeted to rural populations.