Public health extras: News on cancer screenings, disparities in help from bystanders
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* Kim Krisberg

## Significant racial gap found in bystander support

A black person experiencing a medical emergency on a public street is less likely to receive help from a bystander than a white person in medical distress, a recent study shows.

Published in June in APHA’s *American Journal of Public Health,* the study is based on data on nearly 22,500 patients from the 2011 National Emergency Medical Services Information System. Researchers found that overall, bystander support is rare, with only about 1 in 39 patients on public streets receiving such help. However, the study also found that black patients were about 57 percent less likely than white patients to receive bystander support.

Furthermore, about 1 in 30 white patients in high-density counties with average socioeconomic levels received bystander support, compared to about 1 in 260 black patients in high-density, socioeconomically disadvantaged counties.

“Inequalities in bystander support across millions of medical emergencies each year in the United States may contribute to persistent racial and socioeconomic disparities in health,” the study researchers wrote.

## New colorectal cancer screening guides released

New recommendations call on adults to begin colorectal cancer screening at age 50 and continue such testing through age 75.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released the new recommendations in June, noting that colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. The new recommendation, which updates 2008 guidelines, is based on the effectiveness of several screening techniques, the harms of such screening tests, and the ability of such tests to detect different colorectal growths. The task force found “convincing evidence” that screening for colorectal cancer in adults between ages 50 and 75 reduces colorectal cancer mortality, while the harms of such screening are small.

However, the task force also found that the benefits of early detection and intervention for colorectal cancer decline after age 75. Adults ages 76 to 85 who have never been screened for colorectal cancer are more likely to benefit than those who have been screened previously, the task force reported.

The new recommendations were published June 21 in the *Journal of the American Medical Association.*

For more information, visit [www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org](http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org).

*   Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association