Where You Live Might Determine Whether You Get a Colon Cancer Screening
In America, it’s well known that race and
ethnicity affect who gets colon cancer screenings. But now it appears
that where people live also determines whether or not they’ll get
screened, according to a study published in the journal Cancer and reported in a news release from the University of California Davis Health System.
Colon cancer (a.k.a. colorectal cancer) is the fourth most common cancer in men and women.
For
the study, researchers analyzed data of 53,990 people on Medicare, ages
69 to 79, from 11 regions in the United States. With the exception of
Asian-Pacific Islanders in Hawaii, scientists found that whites were
more likely than non-whites to have regular colorectal screenings.
(This means they had a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy—currently the gold
standard tests for colon cancer—within the past five years or a fecal
occult blood test within the past year.)
Asian-Pacific Islanders
had the highest screening rates with more than half recently screened
for colon cancer compared with 38 percent of whites.
Asian-Pacific
Islanders are very aware of the importance of screenings because
gastrointestinal cancer is common among Hawaii’s Japanese population,
said Thomas Semrad, MD, the study’s lead researcher.
As for the
low rates of screenings among other ethnicities in the United States,
Semrad suggested that these people may be visiting medical practices
that don’t offer colorectal cancer screenings.
Researchers
need to look at different geographic areas to see what the screening
determinants are for minorities, Semrad said. “Are these culturally
based? Are there problems with how health care systems are set up? What
are the barriers? If we can figure this out, we would have a target to
improve some of these disparities.”
Click here to learn how to overcome barriers to cancer screening and treatment
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