Diabetes patients and mammographies

July 31, 2012

Free Market Foundation

Women with diabetes are less likely to undergo screening for breast cancer by mammography than women without the disease, according to a study of 474 American women by Mayo Clinic researchers. The findings, reported in the December issue of Diabetes Care, include:

The rate of mammograms for diabetes patients was 78.1 percent vs. 84.9 percent for the control patients, although the incidence of malignancy in women with and without diabetes is equal.

The findings are consistent with previous studies showing reduced use of health care services by patients with chronic diseases, including diabetes.

Why women with diabetes have lower cancer screening rates isn’t entirely clear, but researchers think patients may find managing their illnesses demands so much of their attention and resources they’re unwilling to contemplate cancer prevention.

Source: A Better Life, A Study of Diabetes, Mammography, USA Today, December 27, 2001; based on Thomas J. Beckman et al., Screening Mammogram Utilization in Women With Diabetes, Diabetes Care, December 2001.

For study http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/24/12/2049
For more on Preventive Health Measures http://www.ncpa.org/iss/hea/

FMF Policy Bulletin\4 January 2002