The Association Between Continuity of Primary Care and Preventive Cancer Screening in Women With Intellectual Disability.

Plourde et al. (2018) tracked women with intellectual disability and their primary-care visits. They asked: does seeing the same doctor more often help these women get cancer screens?

The team used insurance records to measure how steady each woman's care was. They then checked who had mammograms and Pap tests.

More steady care did not help. Women with the most steady care were no more likely to get a mammogram.

For Pap tests, the result was worse. The steadiest-care group had lower screening rates than women who saw many doctors.

Durbin et al. (2018) looked at the same continuity idea but for ER visits. They found steady care cut ER trips for adults with IDD. Same method, same year, opposite outcome.

Arana et al. (2019) dug into mammography only. They saw race mattered more than continuity. Hispanic and Black women with ID had higher screening than White peers, even without steady doctors.

McConkey et al. (2010) showed the big picture. People with ID land in the hospital six times more for problems that good primary care should catch. Together these papers say: steady care helps avoid crisis, but it is not enough for routine cancer screening.

You cannot assume a stable doctor equals good preventive care. Add extra steps: picture schedules, social stories, or chaperone calls. Track each woman’s last screen date yourself and start the referral. Pair continuity with behavior supports to close the gap.