The study compared attitudes and behaviors related to breast cancer screening for whites, blacks, and Hispanics using data from a multiethnic sample of women participating in the American Cancer Society 1987 Texas Breast Screening Project.

“In general, similar patterns of association were observed across racial/ethnic groups between a number of demographic and risk factors and prior mammography and recent clinical breast examination (CBE), although the magnitude of the associations varied somewhat across groups…. Hispanics were less likely than blacks or whites to report prior breast cancer screening, including mammography, CBE, and breast self-examination (BSE).”

”Estimates of breast cancer screening behaviors from the 1987 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) show that the prevalence of mammography, both within the past year and “ever” is higher for whites than for blacks or Hispanics.”

“In general, Hispanics were less likely than blacks or whites to report prior breast cancer screening, including prior mammography, recent CBE, and BSE…. Whites were more likely than blacks or Hispanics to report ever having had CBE.”

“Although the magnitude of the difference was small, more blacks and Hispanics than whites gave lack of a physician referral as an important reason for not having had mammography in the past. That pattern was consistent with the observation of Gemson, et al. that primary care physicians with predominantly black or Hispanic patient populations were less likely to recommend mammograms to their patients than physicians whose patient population was predominantly white.”

“The importance of lack of physician referral in our study, a finding consistent with those of others, underscores the role physicians could play in increasing the frequency of breast cancer screening in all three racial/ethnic groups.”