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Women With a Mammogram Within the Past Two Years: Women Age 50-74 by County, New Mexico, 2012, 2014, 2016

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Why Is This Important?

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) and is the second leading cause of cancer death in New Mexican women (after lung cancer). Regular mammograms are the best tests health providers have to screen for breast cancer.

Women With a Mammogram Within the Past Two Years: Women Age 50-74 by County, New Mexico, 2012, 2014, 2016

Due to small sample sizes, BRFSS data for 2012, 2014 and 2016 were aggregated in order to provide stable county estimates.

Definition

Estimated percentage of New Mexican women ages 50-74 years who have had a mammogram in the past two years (i.e., current with breast cancer screening recommendations). A mammogram is an X-ray picture of the breast. Health care providers use a mammogram to look for early signs of breast cancer. The breast cancer screening questions are only administered in the BRFSS in even-numbered years. In January 2016, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) updated its previous 2009 recommendations for breast cancer screening; however, the update contained no changes in screening recommendations for average-risk women based on age group. For women ages 40-49 years, mammography screening is not routinely recommended, but women who place a higher value on the potential benefit than the potential harms may choose to begin screening every two years. For women ages 50-74 years, mammography screening is recommended every two years. For women ages 75 years and older, there was insufficient evidence to recommend for or against mammography screening.

Data Notes

Note: The county-level BRFSS data used for this indicator report were weighted to be representative of the New Mexico Health Region populations. Had the data been weighted to be representative of each county population, the results would likely have been different. **The count or rate in certain cells of the table has been suppressed either because 1) the observed number of events is very small and not appropriate for publication, or 2) it could be used to calculate the number in a cell that has been suppressed. For survey queries, percentages calculated from fewer than 50 survey responses are suppressed. Estimates for the following counties have been suppressed due to small numbers: Catron, De Baca, Guadalupe, Harding, Hidalgo, Mora, Torrance and Union.

Data Sources

  • Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, together with New Mexico Department of Health, Injury and Behavioral Epidemiology Bureau.
    (https://www.nmhealth.org/about/erd/ibeb/brfss/)
  • U.S. data source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence and Trends Data.
    (https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/brfssprevalence)

How the Measure is Calculated

  • Numerator:

    Number of New Mexican women ages 50-74 years from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) who reported that they have had a mammogram within the past two years.

  • Denominator:

    Number of New Mexican women ages 50-74 years from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Data Issues

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is an ongoing survey of adults about health-related behaviors, health conditions, and preventive services. Data are collected in all 50 states, D.C., and U.S. territories. The survey is conducted using scientific telephone survey methods for landline and cellular phones (with cellular since 2011). The landline phone portion of the survey excludes adults living in group quarters such as college dormitories, nursing homes, military barracks, and prisons. The cellular phone portion of the survey includes adult students living in college dormitories but excludes other group quarters. Beginning with 2011, the BRFSS updated its surveillance methods by adding in calls to cell phones and changing its weighting methods. These changes improve BRFSS' ability to take into account the increasing proportion of U.S. adults using only cellular telephones. Because of these changes, the data from years prior to 2011 are not directly comparable to data from 2011 and later. Please see the [[a href="/nmibis-view/docs/Query/BRFSS/BRFSS_fact_sheet_Aug2012.pdf BRFSS Method Change Factsheet]]. Responses have been weighted to reflect the New Mexico adult population by age, sex, ethnicity, geographic region, marital status, education level, home ownership and type of phone. The "missing" and "don't know" responses are not included when calculating a percentage.

Health Topic Pages Related to: Cancer Screening - Mammography

Indicator Data Last Updated On 02/14/2018, Published on 11/27/2020
Population and Community Health Bureau, Public Health Division, New Mexico Department of Health, Public Health Division, 5301 Central Ave. NE, Suite 800, Albuquerque, NM 87108, Telephone: (505) 841-5840. For inquiries, contact the Medical Director/Epidemiologist, Susan Baum, MD, MPH (email: susan.baum@state.nm.us).