Understanding lesbian's mammography utilization

Lesbians face unique barriers to health care, and may be at higher risk for breast cancer than are other women. Yet, no research on lesbians and mammo graphy utilization exists. We conducted telephone interviews of 107 lesbian s aged 51-80, of whom 68 had had mammograms in the last year and 39 had not . Responses to open-ended questions identified the barriers lesbians face i n obtaining mammography, lesbians' reasons for obtaining mammograms, and fa ctors that would help lesbians obtain mammograms. Some issues identified we re particular to lesbians; many issues were common to those identified by g eneral samples of women (which include lesbians).