Working Paper: NBER ID: w24316
Authors: Thomas C. Buchmueller; Lontine Goldzahl
Abstract: In 2004, France introduced a national program of organized breast cancer screening. The national program built on pre-existing local programs in some, but not all, départements. Using data from multiple waves of a nationally representative biennial survey of the French population, we estimate the effect of organized screening on the percentage of women obtaining a mammogram. The analysis uses difference-in-differences methods to exploit the fact that the program was targeted at women in a specific age group: 50 to 74 years old. We find that organized screening significantly raised mammography rates among women in the target age range. Just above the lower age threshold, the percentage of women reporting that they had a mammogram in the past two years increased by over 10 percentage points after the national program went into effect. Mammography rates increased even more among women in their sixties. Estimated effects are particularly large for women with less education and lower incomes, suggesting that France's organized screening program has reduced socioeconomic disparities in access to mammography.
Keywords: breast cancer screening; mammography; France; organized screening programs
JEL Codes: I12; I14; I18
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| organized breast cancer screening program (I19) | mammography usage (L97) |
| organized breast cancer screening program (I19) | percentage of women obtaining a mammogram in the past two years (Y10) |
| organized breast cancer screening program (I19) | regularity of screenings (I18) |
| local programs established prior to the national program (H53) | mammography rates (J78) |
| organized breast cancer screening program (I19) | socioeconomic disparities in access to mammography (I14) |