Abstract C181: Toward breast health equity: Insights into mammography access across Virginia’s social and structural landscape

Abstract Background: Breast cancer (BC) disparities across race, socioeconomic status, and location, stress the need for equitable access to screening. In Virginia (VA), BC is a major concern, with Petersburg City having the highest mortality rate nationwide. Understanding social and structural factors’ impact on mammography accessibility may provide insights on effectively serving screening-eligible women in VA, particularly those facing greater BC burden. Also, analyzing data at the census tract level is vital for accurate accessibility assessment, mitigating county-level data skewing and disparity concealment. Objective: Examine how social and structural factors (e.g., demographics, transportation, area deprivation) influence mammography facility and unit distribution in VA. Methods: We utilized a comprehensive approach to compile and analyze data at the census tract level. We employed Poisson regression models to predict the number of mammography facilities and units within each tract. The predictor variables included the number of bus stops (VA Transit Routes 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr C181.