More mammography facilities have closed rather than opened in recent years, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). In other less-than-surprising news, the GAO cited financial constraints as the main reason that breast cancer screening programs have shut down.
However, the report does state that there are currently enough centers open to meet the needs of the women who are eligible for screening, although that will change as the population ages and fewer professionals enter the breast imaging field.
For this report, 2001-2004 data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Mammography Program Reporting and Information System were analyzed. In that time period, the GAO researchers also found that:
- The number of facilities nationwide dropped from 9,306 to 8,768 between 2001 and 2004.
- The number of mammographic technologists fell by 3%.
- The number of physicians interpreting mammograms dipped by 4%.
- As of October 2004, 865 U.S. counties had no mammography machines in their areas.
Click here to access a PDF version of the GAO full report.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
September 28, 2006
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Frost predicts tripling of non-mammo breast imaging in U.S., December 9, 2003
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