Modeling the Impact of Social Determinants on Breast Cancer Screening: A Data-Driven Approach

BackgroundThis study addresses the critical implementation science challenge of operationalizing social determinants of health (SDoH) in clinical practice. We develop and validate models demonstrating how SDoH predicts mammogram screening behavior within a rural population. Our work provides healthcare systems with an evidence-based framework for translating SDoH data into effective interventions. MethodsWe model the relationship between SDoH and breast cancer screening adherence using data from over 63,000 patients with established primary care relationships within the Dartmouth Health System. Our analytical framework integrates multiple machine learning techniques including light gradient boosting machine, random forest, elastic-net logistic regression, Bayesian regression, and decision tree classifier with SDoH questionnaire responses, demographic information, geographic indicators, insurance status, and clinical measures to quantify and characterize the influence of SDoH on mammogram scheduling and attendance. ResultsOur models achieve moderate discriminative performance in predicting screening behaviors, with an average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC AUC) of 71% for scheduling and 70% for attendance in validation datasets. Key social factors influencing screening behaviors include geographic accessibility measured by the rural-urban commuting area, neighborhood socioeconomic status captured by the area deprivation index, and healthcare access factors related to clinical sites. Additional influential variables include months since the last mammogram, current age, and the Charlson comorbidity score, which intersect with social factors influencing healthcare utilization. By systematically modeling these SDoH and related factors, we identify opportunities for healthcare organizations to transform SDoH data into targeted, facility-level intervention strategies while adapting to payer incentives and addressing screening disparities. ConclusionsOur model provides healthcare systems with a data-driven approach to understanding and addressing how SDoH shape mammogram screening behaviors, particularly among rural populations. While initially focused on breast cancer screening, this systematic framework lays the groundwork for analyzing SDoHs influence on other preventive health behaviors, demonstrating the potential for broader applications in improving routine preventive care utilization.