Legislation requiring patients to receive a notification about issues related to increased breast density is associated with improved follow-up by breast ultrasound imaging, according to a new study published in Medical Care.
Researchers from the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute studied data from more than 13 million mammograms from 2007 to 2014 for the study. Patients were all privately insured and between the ages of 40 and 64.
“By 2018, 31 states had enacted legislation in response to issues in mammography screening in women with increased breast density,” lead author Michal Horný, PhD, an assistant professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and an affiliate research fellow at the Neiman Institute, said in a prepared statement. “Of the 31 states that have enacted legislation regarding dense breast tissue identified at the time of screening mammography, 20 states did so before the end of 2014. We identified characteristics of policies implemented in these 20 states from the published literature and a review of the enacted bills.”
Overall, the authors found that “notification of patients about issues surrounding increased breast density” was associated to improved follow-up by more than one percentage point. Policies that suggested supplemental imaging or even mandated supplemental imaging “augmented that effect.”
“The heterogeneous effect of state legislation with regard to dense breast tissue on screening mammography follow-up by ultrasound is likely explained by specific and unique characteristics of the unique legislative approaches taken by a variety of states,” author Richard Duszak, MD, professor and vice chair of health policy and practice in the department of radiology and imaging sciences at Emory University and a senior affiliate research fellow at the Neiman Institute, said in the same statement.
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