Comparison of mobile versus fixed mammography sites from the perspective of mid-life, uninsured women in Santa Clara County, CA: A focus group study

Background: Research has shown that medically underserved women have higher breast cancer mortality rates due to under-screening and a disproportional rate of late-stage diagnosis. The Community Health Partnership's Women's Health Partnership aims at decreasing this disparity through the Community Mammography Access Project (CMAP). CMAP targets nearly 20,000 medically underserved women over the age of 40 living in Santa Clara County, California through the collaborative effort of community-based mobile mammography services and an existing safety net of healthcare providers. However, little data exists on the advantages of mobile mammography units.

Methods: Utilization, access, and continuity of care will be assessed through two focus groups of 6-12 people from mobile and fixed site programs. Patients will be recruited from the Valley Medical Center and CMAP events. Special attention will be given to issues of convenience, satisfaction, and annual re-screening rates.

Results: We anticipate that patients from the mobile mammography program will have greater satisfaction, higher rates of re-screening, and ultimately improved continuity of care. These findings may be attributed to closer proximity of the mobile sites to the patient's home, with established patient-clinician relationships driving patient comfort.

Conclusion and Implications: With the higher cost of mobile mammography and decreased funding for public health programs, it is important to provide an objective assessment of the efficacy of mobile screenings. Greater research in this area will help policymakers and community health partners expand safety nets like CMAP to cover more underserved populations.