Health and Women with Disabilities: Cancer

More than one third (33.8%) of Oregon women have a disability

(defined as activity limitation; use of assistive equipment; or trouble learning, remembering, or concentrating).¹

Women with disabilities are more likely to have cancer diagnosed at a later, less treatable stage than women without disabilities.2

Breast Cancer

Cervical Cancer

Among Oregon women:

v Women with physical disabilities are less likely than women without physical disabilities to have had a Pap test within the last 3 years.5

v Women with cognitive disabilities are less likely than women without cognitive disabilities to have had a Pap test within the last 3 years.⁵

Lung Cancer

Smoking tobacco products in any form is the major cause of lung cancer.  In

Oregon:

v Women with disabilities are more likely to smoke (19% vs. 14%) than

non-disabled women.¹

v People with disabilities (women and men) are more likely to have

smoking-related cancers than people without disabilities.²

Important Cancer Risk Factors:

v Smoking

v Being physically inactive (little or no exercise)

v Poor diet

This fact sheet was prepared in collaboration with the National

Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service, the Oregon Office

on Disability and Health, and the RRTC on Health and Wellness.
The statistics on the other side of this page are from different

studies of different groups of people.  For more information, see

the notes and references below:

¹        Non-institutionalized Oregonians aged 18 years and older. 

 [Data from the Oregon Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance

System analyzed by the Oregon Office on Disability and Health]

²        Oregon Medicaid recipients.  [Austin, D. (2003).

Disabilities are risk factors for late stage or poor prognosis cancers.

In RRTC Health and Wellness Consortium (Ed.), Changing

concepts of health and disability: State of the science conference & policy forum (p.52-55). Portland, OR: Oregon Health & Science

University.]

³        Nosek, M.A. & Howland, C.A. (1997) Breast and cervical

cancer screening among women with physical disabilities.

Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 78(suppl):

S39-S44.

⁴        Women over age 40.  Experts recommend that women

receive a mammogram every one or two years beginning at age 40.  [Horner-Johnson, W., Rushing, R., Siddiqui, Y. & Drum, C.E.

(2006). Breast and cervical cancer screening among Oregon women

 with and without disabilities.  Portland: Oregon Office on

Disability and Health.]

⁵        Experts recommend that women receive a Pap smear at least once every three years beginning at age 18 or when sexual activity begins, whichever comes first.  [Horner-Johnson, W.,

Rushing, R., Siddiqui, Y. & Drum, C.E. (2006). Breast and cervical cancer screening among Oregon women with and without

disabilities.  Portland: Oregon Office on Disability and Health.]

This publication was supported in part by the Oregon Office on Disability and Health, Grant/Cooperative Agreement Number U59/CCU1093509 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to the Oregon Department of Human Services; the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Health and Wellness, Grant Number H133B040034 from the U.S. Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) to Oregon Health & Science University; and the Women with Disabilities Health Equity Coalition, a grant from Johnson & Johnson to the Center of Excellence in Women’s Health and Oregon Health & Science University.  The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC, NIDRR, or Johnson & Johnson.