Inequality in the Utilization of Breast Cancer Screening between Women with and without Disabilities in Taiwan: A Propensity-Score-Matched Nationwide Cohort Study

Because of the difficulties in accessing medical care, the likelihood of receiving breast cancer screening may be low for women with disabilities. We aimed to investigate differences in the utilization of breast cancer screening among women with and without disabilities. Participants included women with and without disabilities from 2004 to 2010, and it was observed whether the participants had received a breast cancer screening during 2011 and 2012. Propensity-score matching was employed to match disabled women with non-disabled women (1:1). Data sources included the National Health Insurance Research Database, the Cancer Screening Database, and the Disability Registration File. Conditional logistic regression was performed to examine the odds ratios (ORs) that both groups would undergo breast cancer screening. The proportion of women with disabilities who received breast cancer screening was 18.33%, which was significantly lower than that of women without disabilities (25.52%) (p < 0.001). Women with dementia had the lowest probability of receiving a mammography examination (OR = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.28-0.43), followed by those with multiple disabilities (OR = 0.43; 95% CI: 0.40-0.47) and intellectual disabilities (OR = 0.45; 95% CI: 0.41-0.50). In conclusion, compared to women without disabilities, those with disabilities were less likely to undergo breast cancer screening.

Automated summary

Women with disabilities are less likely to undergo breast cancer screening, particularly those with dementia, multiple disabilities, or intellectual disabilities.