Unlabelled: "OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the effectiveness of the regional law No.1035 enacted in 2009 by the local government of the Emilia- Romagna Region (Northern Italy) with the purpose of revising the rules of access to breast-care services. The law dictated the extension of the organised mammography screening programme to women aged 45-49 and 70-74 years in order to decrease their spontaneous screening rates and, thus, the waiting times for the access to diagnostic mammography by women of all ages.

Design: study of time trends (joinpoint regression analysis and before/ after analysis) in annual percent mammography rates and in waiting times for access to clinical radiology facilities (2006-2014) among resident women. The information was taken from the regional Department of Health.

Setting: public and accredited private radiology facilities.

Main Outcome Measures: age-specific and waiting-time-specific (months) percent rates of organised screening mammography, spontaneous screening mammography, and diagnostic mammography.

Results: following the regional law No.1035, screening rates among women aged 45-49 and 70-74 years reached levels comparable to those attained by women aged 50-69 years. Spontaneous screening rates dropped and waiting times for spontaneous screening mammography (women aged 40-44 years) were cut. For diagnostic mammography, the rates remained stable, except for a decrease among women aged 35-39 and 45-49 years, and waiting times decreased in a constant manner over the study period.

Conclusions: the above-mentioned law met most of its goals. Comprehensive programmes regulating mammography practice at the population level can be effective."

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.19191/EP17.1.P038.010DOI Listing

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