Disability as a predictor of breast cancer screening uptake: A population-based study of 57,328 women.
OBJECTIVE
Despite a growing body of evidence suggesting inequalities in breast cancer screening uptake in the United States for women with disabilities, few attempts have been made to examine whether this association applies to the United Kingdom. We conducted the first population-wide study investigating the impact of disability on uptake of breast cancer screening in Northern Ireland.


METHODS
Breast screening records extracted from the National Breast Screening System were linked to the Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study. This identified a cohort of 57,328 women who were followed through one complete three-year screening cycle of the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme in Northern Ireland. The presence of disability was identified from responses to the 2011 Census.


RESULTS
Within this cohort, 35.8% of women reported having at least one chronic disability, and these individuals were 7% less likely to attend compared with those with no disability (odds ratio 0.93; 95% confidence interval 0.89-0.98). Variation in the degree of disparity observed was evident according to the type and number of comorbid disabilities examined.


CONCLUSION
This is the first population-wide study in Northern Ireland to identify disparities in breast screening uptake for women with chronic disabilities, in particular, those with multimorbidity. This is of particular concern, given the projected rise in the prevalence of disability associated with the ageing population.
['Ross|Emma|E|0000-0002-0541-8647', 'Maguire|Aideen|A|', 'Donnelly|Michael|M|', 'Mairs|Adrian|A|', 'Hall|Clare|C|', "O'Reilly|Dermot|D|"]
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D001943:Breast Neoplasms D006233:Disabled Persons D055088:Early Detection of Cancer D005260:Female D054624:Health Status Disparities D054625:Healthcare Disparities D006801:Humans D008137:Longitudinal Studies D008327:Mammography D008403:Mass Screening D008875:Middle Aged D009660:Northern Ireland D016017:Odds Ratio D013222:State Medicine D006113:United Kingdom D014481:United States
Disability breast cancer cancer screening