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by Margot Shields and Kathryn Wilkins
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This article updates mammography use by Canadian women aged 50 to 69, and reports trends from 1990 to 2008 among the provinces. Characteristics of non-users are examined.
Data from the 2008 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) were used to update mammography use and to examine factors associated with non-use. Historical estimates were produced using the 2000/2001, 2003 and 2005 CCHS, the 1994/1995, 1996/1997 and 1998/1999 National Population Health Survey and the 1990 Health Promotion Survey. Frequency estimates, cross-tabulations and logistic regression analysis were used.
In 2008, 72% of women aged 50 to 69 reported having had a mammogram in the past two years, up from 40% in 1990. The increase occurred from 1990 to 2000/2001; rates then stabilized. Between 1990 and 2000/2001, the difference in participation between women in the highest and lowest income quintiles gradually narrowed—from a 26- to a 12-percentage-point difference. In 2008, the disparity widened to 18 percentage points. Non-use was high in British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and Nunavut. Non-use was associated with being an immigrant, living in a lower income household, not having a regular doctor and smoking.
Despite widespread availability of screening programs, women in certain segments of the population are not receiving regular mammograms.
breast cancer, cancer screening, mass screening, trends
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, and will be diagnosed in an estimated 22,700 Canadian women in 2009. A woman’s probability of developing breast cancer over her lifetime is 1 in 9. The probability of dying from the disease is much smaller—1 in 28. The relative five-year survival for women with breast cancer is 87%—meaning that compared with women with similar characteristics but without breast cancer, those with breast cancer are 87% as likely to survive five years after diagnosis. [Full text]
Margot Shields (1-613-951-4177; Margot.Shields@statcan.gc.ca) and Kathryn Wilkins (1-613-951-1769; Kathryn.Wilkins@statcan.gc.ca) are with the Health Analysis Division at Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0T6.