Meeting the cervical cancer screening needs of underserved women: the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, 2004-2006.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the extent to which the only national organized screening program in the US, the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP), has helped to meet the cervical cancer screening needs of underserved women.


METHODS
Low-income, uninsured women 18-64 years of age are eligible for free cervical cancer screening services through NBCCEDP. We used data from the US Census Bureau to estimate the number of eligible women, based on insurance status and income. The estimates were adjusted for hysterectomy status using the National Health Interview Survey and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. We used administrative data from NBCCEDP to obtain the number of women receiving NBCCEDP-funded Papanicolaou (Pap) tests. We then calculated the percentage of NBCCEDP-eligible women who received free cervical cancer screening through NBCCEDP. We also used the NHIS to calculate the percentage of NBCCEDP-eligible women screened nationally and the percentage unscreened.


RESULTS
In 2004-2006, nearly 9% (775,312 of 8.9 million) of NBCCEDP-eligible women, received NBCCEDP-funded Pap test. Rates varied substantially by age groups, race, and ethnicity. NBCCEDP-eligible women 40-64 years of age had a higher screening rate (22.6%) than eligible women 18-39 years of age (2.3%). Non-Hispanic women had a higher screening rate (9.3%) than Hispanic women (7.3%). Among non-Hispanics, the screening rate was highest among American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) women (36.1%) and lowest among women of different race combinations (4.6%), The percentage of eligible women screened in each state ranged from 2.0 to 38.4%.


CONCLUSIONS
Although NBCCEDP provided cervical cancer screening services to 775,312 low-income, uninsured women, this number represented a small percentage of those eligible. In 2005, more than 34% of NBCCEDP-eligible women (3.1 million women) did not receive recommended Pap tests from either NBCCEDP or other sources.
Tangka
Florence K L
FK
Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DCPC, 4770 Buford Highway, NE, Mailstop K-55, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717, USA. fbt9@cdc.gov
O'Hara
Brett
B
Gardner
James G
JG
Turner
Joanna
J
Royalty
Janet
J
Shaw
Kate
K
Sabatino
Susan
S
Hall
Ingrid J
IJ
Coates
Ralph J
RJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult