Colon Cancer Screening Rates Rise; Yet Latinos Least Likely to Get Screened
Jul 16th
Between 2006 and 2008, the percentage of adults ages 50-75 who had undergone screening for colorectal cancer with a method recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force rose from 51.9 percent to 62.9 percent, according to new CDC figures published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
During the same time period, the percentage of women ages 50-74 who had received a mammogram in the previous 2 years declined slightly, from 81.5 percent to 81.1 percent.
Adults ages 50-59, Hispanics, and persons with lower income, less than a high school education, and without health insurance were least likely to have been screened for colorectal cancer.
Women ages 50-59, women with less than a high school education, American Indians and Alaskan Natives, women without health insurance, and those with an annual income of less than $15,000 were least likely to have received a mammogram.
The report highlights the need for evidence-based interventions to increase community cancer screening rates, such as those recommended in the CDC’s Guide to Community Preventive Services, concluded the authors. They also stressed the importance of physicians recommending screening services to their patients.
“The most common reason women give for not having a mammogram is that no one recommended the test,” they wrote. “Therefore, health care providers have the most important role in increasing the prevalence of up-to-date mammography among women in the United States.”
Millions, Especially Latinos, Need Cancer Screening
Jul 13th
More than 22 million adults have not had screening tests for colon cancer, and more than 7 million women have not had a recent mammogram to screen for breast cancer as recommended, according to reports in a new monthly scientific publication called CDC Vital Signs.
About a third of people are not getting colon cancer screening, which can detect the disease early when it is most treatable. This could be because they don’t know they can get colon cancer, they don’t have insurance or a doctor (a more likely case among Latinos), or their doctor hasn’t recommended screening.
Some women are not getting mammograms as recommended. About one of five women between the ages of 50 and 74 has not had a mammogram in the past two years. Latinas get screened at an even less frequent rate.
The CDC reports suggests these efforts to help:
- Health departments can find out why some groups of people are not being screened, and create programs to solve these problems and increase screening.
- Doctors and other health care providers can tell patients who should be screened about test options, make sure patients who can’t afford tests know about free screening services in their area, and remind patients when a screening test is due.
- People can ask their doctor about getting screened, get screened as recommended, and see their doctor promptly if a screening test shows there might be a problem.
Latinos, please watch the PSAs here or below to see why breast and colon cancer screening is so important:
Latinas: Watch This Video…It Could Help Save Your Life
May 10th
Latinos, watch this new PSA about a group of Latinas talking about their friend who, thanks to early cancer screening, was able to get proper treatment for colorectal cancer.
The friends discover that screening for colorectal cancer saves lives.
For cancer info, call 1-800-4-CANCER.
Please comment on this PSA below. Was is effective? Did it motivate you to get screened? Why or why not? To see more PSAs form the researchers behind SaludToday, go here.
VIDEO: Why Cancer Screening Can Save Your Life
May 6th
Latinos, watch this new PSA about a group of Latinas talking about their friend who, thanks to early cancer screening, was able to get proper treatment for colorectal cancer.
The friends discover that screening for colorectal cancer saves lives.
For cancer info, call 1-800-4-CANCER.
Please comment on this PSA below. Was is effective? Did it motivate you to get screened? Why or why not? To see more PSAs form the researchers behind SaludToday, go here.
NEW LATINO PSA: Brothers Make ‘Promesa’ to Get Screened
Mar 9th
To all Latinos: In honor of March being colon cancer awareness month, be sure to watch this heartfelt PSA in English or Spanish about how two brothers keep a promise to stay healthy and get screened for colon cancer.
Watch it below in Spanish, and be sure to add your comment about the PSA:
Or watch it in English: