Why Are Fewer Women Getting Mammograms?

Aug. 14, 2007 — -- Gloria Wheeless has waited two months to get a mammogram. The 53-year-old called her local clinic in June to schedule the procedure, but was told the first available appointment wasn't until December.

"It should never be this hard," she said.

Thanks to a cancellation, she's managed to cut her wait time from six months to two, which could make a potential difference between life and death.

"If you have a lump, you want to get it checked. You don't want to wait that long," Wheeless said.

Unfortunately, Wheeless' story is not an isolated one. Throughout the nation, women are finding it increasingly difficult to schedule mammograms.

According to the National Cancer Institute, the rate of women who went in for annual mammograms dropped after a dramatic rise in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, only 66 percent of women age 40 and older get annual mammograms. That number is 3 million fewer women than five years ago.

Since 1999, roughly 12 percent, or more than 1,000, of the nation's mammography facilities have shut down due to both rising overhead costs and a decline in the number of doctors willing to do the procedure, a 2007 government report found.

The shutdowns have resulted in a backlog at the remaining mammography clinics and contributed to a national drop in the number of women who get mammograms.

"It shouldn't be this hard. But this is what we have," said mammographer Michele Lewis of Professional Radiology Services in Brooklyn, N.Y., where the average wait for an appointment is seven months. "The demand is a lot higher than what we can offer, so a lot of people are not coming for their mammograms."

But fewer mammography facilities are not the only factor contributing to the drop. Many women, like 56-year-old Rita McKee, have made a conscious decision not to get mammograms because they are painful.

"I haven't had a mammogram in three years because the last time I had one it hurt so badly that I was in tears," McKee said. And though she's had a history of cysts in her breasts -- she even underwent a breast biopsy -- McKee said she just can't bring herself to go back.

"I'm concerned that something's happening in my body right now," McKee said. "But I think that as an American citizen I have the right to have medical care that does not feel tortuous."

Pain didn't force 58-year-old Lynn Davidson to forgo a mammogram -- her insurance company did.

"It was too much of a hassle with the insurance company this year to see if they would reimburse me; so, I just decided to skip it for 2007," Davidson said.