Considering the fact that women who undergo mammography are more likely to have early stage breast cancer at diagnosis than women who don't, a study in the American Journal of Roentgenology suggests that interventions to encourage the use of mammography may benefit women who are most likely to miss them, such as women who live long distances from mammography center.
According to the researchers, missing a mammogram even in the year prior to breast cancer diagnosis increases the changes of a later-stage cancer diagnosis. They found that a family history of breast cancer, along with the number of medical encounters, were most predictive of undergoing mammography.
They found that time and distance to travel is also predictive of women missing mammograms. Each additional minute of travel time to the nearest mammography center was increasingly predictive of missing the exam. Article