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Americans Still Not Getting Colorectal Cancer Exams

Men and women age 50 and over are urged to get tests that screen for colorectal cancer but only about half of them have done so as of 2005.  Testing has proven to be highly effective in reducing the number of deaths attributed to this widespread form of cancer and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would like to see many more Americans of this age group getting screened.  Only lung cancer kills more Americans that colorectal cancer does.

According to CDC data, 43% of Americans had been screened for colorectal cancer in 2000 and the percentage grew to 50% by 2005.  CDC analysts attribute this growth rate to increased media coverage during that time as well as to Medicare expanding its coverage in 2001 to include colonoscopy for a larger number of its beneficiaries.

The main reasons Americans do not get colonoscopy screenings are thought to be medical insurance coverage, education, income, and regular access to health care.  Insurance coverage is thought to be a major determining factor in getting tested or not.  Of Americans with health insurance coverage, more than 50% had been tested while only 24.1% of Americans without insurance had done so.  When Americans reported regular contact with a healthcare provider, 51.9% had been tested while only 24.7% of those who did not have access to regular health care did so.

Other revealing statistics include:
-    Education – 37% of all Americans who did not complete high school had been tested while 60.7% of college graduates had.
-    Household income – Where annual income is less than $20,000, 37.4% had been tested while 58.5% of those earning $75,000 or more had been tested.
-    Physician contact – Only 19.5% of patients who hadn’t seen a doctor in the previous year had been screened while 52.5% of those who saw a physician between two and five times had done so.

Reasons for not getting tested?  Almost 50% said they just hadn’t thought about it and 20% said it was because their physician hadn’t ordered it.

This CDC study involved 13,480 Americans 50 years old and older.  Study details can be found in the July issue of the American Association for Cancer Research’s journal, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Source: American Association for Cancer Research

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