Citation

Farley M, Minkoff JR, Barkan H. Women Health 2001; 34(2): 15-27.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1300/J013v34n02_02

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The prevalence of mammography screening is unacceptably low. A history of trauma has been associated with poor health status, decreased health prevention behaviors, and increased mortality. We predicted that women who had a history of trauma were less likely to obtain mammography screening than women who did not report such a history. The relation between history of trauma and breast cancer screening has not been previously described. We used a case-control design, randomly sampling women who had obtained and who had not obtained mammography within the preceding 2.25 years. There were significant differences in trauma history between women who had been screened and those who had not. Those who had not obtained mammography within the recommended breast cancer screening guidelines reported a greater overall number of traumatic events in their lifetimes, a greater prevalence of urban violence, domestic violence, sexual violence, and greater frequency of MVA. African-American, Asian-American, and Latina-American women obtained mammography less often than white European-American women. The specific traumatic events which were associated with obtaining mammography differed between ethnic groups. Several types of trauma were associated with lowered rates of mammography screening. The effects of different types of trauma were different for women of different ethnic groups.