Breast and cervical cancer screening practices among disabled women aged 40-75: does quality of the experience matter?
BACKGROUND
Women with disabilities (WWD) face significant barriers accessing healthcare, which may affect rates of routine preventive services. We examined the relationship between disability status and routine breast and cervical cancer screening among middle-aged and older unmarried women and the differences in reported quality of the screening experience.


METHODS
Data were from a 2003-2005 cross-sectional survey of 630 unmarried women in Rhode Island, 40-75 years of age, stratified by marital status (previously vs. never married) and partner gender (women who partner with men exclusively [WPM] vs. women who partner with women exclusively or with both women and men [WPW]).


RESULTS
WWD were more likely than those without a disability to be older, have a high school education or less, have household incomes <$30,000, be unemployed, and identify as nonwhite. In addition, WWD were less likely to report having the mammogram or Pap test procedure explained and more likely to report that the procedures were difficult to perform. After adjustment for important demographic characteristics, we found no differences in cancer screening behaviors by disability status. However, the quality of the cancer screening experience was consistently and significantly associated with likelihood of routine cancer screening.


CONCLUSIONS
Higher quality of cancer screening experience was significantly associated with likelihood of having routine breast and cervical cancer screening. Further studies should explore factors that affect quality of the screening experience, including facility characteristics and interactions with medical staff.
Liu
Sze Y
SY
Department of Community Health, Brown Medical School, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, USA.
Clark
Melissa A
MA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012237:Rhode Island; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
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