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VIDEO: Health screenings necessary for women after menopause
PHILADELPHIA — In this video exclusive, Gloria Richard-Davis, MD, FACOG, NCMP, professor and director of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Arkansas Medical Services, discusses health screenings for postmenopausal women.
According to recent practice guidelines, women should have a Pap screening for cervical cancer until age 65 years. “That applies to the average population, and not to special populations,” Richard-Davis said. Women without a negative Pap test for at least the previous 10 years and many African-American women may benefit from continued screening.
Mammograms are another important screening for midlife and older women. “In that area, we have so many different guidelines that it is confusing for our providers, it’s confusing for our patients,” Richard-Davis said. As a result, women are either not getting screened or the mammogram has not been covered by insurance.
Finally, only about 20% of women undergo a DXA screening for osteoporosis, even following a fracture, according to Richard-Davis, and physicians should do better to get these women treatments.