Socioeconomic factors, immigration status, and cancer screening among Mexican American women aged 75 and older

Although there is not an agreement until what age women should be screened for cancer, screening utilization in very old women may help us to describe disparities for cancer screening. The objective of this study is to explore the association between socioeconomic factors, immigration status or language use and cancer screening methods among Mexican American women aged 75 and older. We used data from Wave 5 of the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly, on 1,272 women aged 75 and over in 2004-2005. The outcomes are mammography and Pap smear use during the two years prior to the interview. In multivariate analyses, lower Pap smear use was associated with older age, lower education (<5 yr), financial strain, and instrumental activities of daily living limitations. Lower mammography use was associated with older age, lower income (<10,000/ yr), financial strain, and instrumental activities of daily living limitations. In contrast, higher mammography use was associated with having chronic conditions, higher depressive symptoms or a high Mini Mental State Examination score. Immigration status, language use and insurance coverage were not associated with either Pap smear or mammography use. It appears that the effect of socioeconomic deprivation and medical conditions or functional status still have effects on screening utilization in very old women but not insurance or immigration status; in contrast these last two factors have been found to be crucial barriers for screening at younger ages.