Not enough Shelby County women get mammograms
Shelby County has enough resources for all its women in the right age range to get a yearly mammogram, but tens of thousands still don’t, a report has determined.
The Memphis Breast Cancer Consortium, part of the nonprofit Common Table Health Alliance, released “Breast Cancer 901: Community Wide Report” on Thursday. The report identified the quality and capacity of local breast cancer facilities plus demographic trends linked to breast cancer mortality rates.
A 2012 study found that black women in the Memphis metropolitan area died of breast cancer at more than double the rate white women did from
2005 to 2009, the largest disparity among the 50 largest U.S. cities. A later study found that disparity dropped over time, but the breast cancer mortality rate was still 68.9 percent higher for black women.
The MBCC was formed in 2016 to try and reduce the racial disparity in breast cancer mortality rates in the Memphis area, along with increasing the amount of screenings and treatment black women receive.
Addressing the women who aren’t getting mammograms could help Memphis health providers better understand this racial disparity and possible barriers in receiving mammograms, the MBCC report says. Mammograms can detect breast cancer early and lead to early treatment, a key factor in reducing the mortality rate, it says.
Knowing that all women ages 40 to 64, the recommended age range for a yearly mammogram, in Shelby County can get that service is a good sign, said MBCC Project Director Carla Baker in an interview.
“That is significant, because we were not sure if every woman that was of the appropriate age to get mammograms could really do it,” Baker said.
How many Shelby County women aren’t getting mammograms, and why?
There are 210,870 Shelby County women in the 40 to 64 age range recommended for a yearly mammogram, according to the report. But 84,348 of those women — or 40 percent — are not receiving their yearly screenings, it says.
Per 2016 data the facilities disclosed, a total of 142,349 screening and diagnostic mammograms were performed. Researchers for the report, using a Government Accountability Office definition of maximum mammogram capacity, determined 210,000 screening mammograms could be performed yearly at just those 17 facilities.
Facility quality doesn’t appear to be an issue. Seventeen of the 23 local mammography facilities participated in a survey conducted for the report, and Baker said the study showed they were of “an exceptionally high quality,” having the proper accreditation and wait times not far off from the national average.
Now, the MBCC wants to pinpoint why 40 percent of eligible women in Shelby County aren’t receiving regular mammograms despite the availability and quality.
“This study shows we have the quality of facilities and it’s not a time issue,” said Kiki Hall, CEO of the Common Table Health Alliance. “…Now that we know we can get (to 100 percent), we have to find out why we’re only at 60 percent.”
Hall said myriad reasons could be involved, including transportation issues, time constraints, a lack of insurance and being uncomfortable with the procedure.
“The providers are working on a better patient experience, and that is something we know needs to improve because not all facilities have done that,” Baker said.
Seventy-three percent of U.S. women
Poverty linked to breast cancer mortality rate
The MBCC report also found economic struggles closely correlated with breast cancer mortality rates. It mapped out each Shelby County ZIP code’s “Economic Hardship Index,” which factors in unemployment, income level, crowded housing and more.
Areas that scored high in economic hardship like North and South Memphis generally had cancer mortality rates higher than other places in Shelby County.
“A lot of the women in these underserved neighborhoods, they don’t do their (mammogram) screenings, and you go back to that laundry list of reasons as to why that might be,” Hall said.
Health providers have been deploying mobile mammogram units to those areas of late to eliminate transportation problems, Baker said.
“It was very obvious when we mapped where the facilities were and where the places with the highest mortality rates were to get those vans to those areas,” she said.
But all Shelby County ZIP codes have a higher breast cancer mortality rate than the national average, Baker said, meaning all communities could use additional outreach and resources.
From 2014 to 2016, Shelby County’s breast cancer mortality rate was 30.5 per 100,000 women, per the Shelby County Health Department Office of Epidemiology. The rate in the U.S. is 20.3, according to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
“We discovered that while we’re making steps on the disparity rate, every ZIP code in Shelby County — it doesn’t matter what that ZIP code is — has a higher mortality rate than the national average,” Hall said. “So in order to reduce that mortality rate, we have to get the screenings figured out.”
For information on mammogram and treatment centers in the Memphis area, along with financial support information and other resources, the MBCC has “The Pink Ribbon Resource Directory” available on its website.
Max Garland covers FedEx, logistics and health care for The Commercial Appeal. Reach him at max.garland@commercialappeal.com or 901-529-2651 and on Twitter @MaxGarlandTypes.