Compliance and self-reported barriers to follow-up of abnormal screening mammograms among women utilizing a county mobile mammography van.

Abstract

Our primary objective was to describe the follow-up patterns for abnormal screening mammograms among women in a large urban county who utilized mobile mammography. We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis using electronic records, medical chart review, and questionnaires. Compliance with diagnostic evaluation was 43% to 60%. Among women who did have follow-up, more than 40% did not do so in a timely fashion. Younger women and those with less suspicious mammograms were more likely to have longer delays. We concluded that programs that utilize mobile mammography should include intensive, multilingual tracking systems in order increase diagnostic follow-up for this vulnerable population.