|
Research Highlights
Study Urges More Discreet Use of Cancer Tests for Older Women
May 1, 2004
Elderly women in very poor health, for whom the risks of Pap smears and mammograms outweigh the
potential benefits, are being screened at rates equal to those of healthier women, according to a
study by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San
Francisco. The study analyzed data from 4,792 women age 70 and older who took part in the 2001
California Health Interview Survey. The women had rated their overall health and functioning, and
indicated whether they had had a recent Pap smear, to screen for cervical cancer; or mammogram,
to screen for breast cancer. Among all respondents, 78 percent reported a recent screening
mammography and 77 percent a recent Pap smear. But women who reported the poorest health were
just as likely to have been screened as those in the best health. More than half of women age 80
and older in the worst health quartile reported recent screenings, representing 81,000 mammograms
and 35,000 Pap smears that, according to clinical guidelines, should not have been performed.
Walter LC, Lindquist K, Covinsky KE.
Relationship between health status and use of screening mammography and Papanicolaou smears
among women older than 70 years of age.
Ann Intern Med. 2004 May 4;140(9):681-8.
|
