Not all Americans are getting their recommended cancer screenings, according to a recent federal study, and screening rates among Asian and Hispanic groups are especially concerning.
Screenings for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer can dramatically reduce the burden of cancer and improve cancer patients’ lives, according to the study, but Asian and Hispanic Americans are significantly less likely to receive recommended screenings for those three cancers. Released in January by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute, the study is the first federal analysis to identify cancer screening disparities among Asian and Hispanic groups in the United States.
The study noted that screening rates for breast cancer, cervical cancer and colorectal cancers — at 72.4 percent, 83 percent and 58.6 percent respectively — were below Healthy People 2020 targets of 81 percent for breast cancer, 93 percent for cervical cancer and 70.5 percent for colorectal cancer. But screening rates were significantly lower among Asians and Hispanics, the study found. For example, among Asians, only about 64 percent received recommended breast cancer screenings in 2010, while about 75 percent were screened for cervical cancer and nearly 47 percent for colorectal cancer. Hispanics, too, were less likely to receive recommended cancer screenings.
“It is troubling to see that not all Americans are getting the recommended cancer screenings and that disparities continue to persist for certain populations,” said study lead author Sallyann Coleman King, MD, an epidemic intelligence service officer in CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. “Screening can find breast, cervical and colorectal cancers at an early stage when treatment is more effective.”
Published Jan. 26 in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the study found that the number of U.S. residents getting recommended cancer screenings did not meet national targets in 2010. Overall, screening rates for breast cancer remained relatively stable between 2000 and 2010, but screenings for cervical cancer fell slightly. On the upside, colorectal cancer screening rates increased markedly for men and women from 2000 to 2010, with the rate for women rising slightly faster, according to the report.
Along with increasing Asians’ and Hispanics’ use of recommended breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screenings, the study pointed to a need to increase screenings among adults who lack health insurance or have no usual source for health care. For example, women who reported having no usual source of health care or no health insurance were considerably less likely to get recommended mammogram screenings. However, the rate of mammogram screenings went up in tandem with the number of years spent living in the United States and level of education. For example, immigrant women who had lived in the United States for 10 or more years were almost as likely as their U.S.-born counterparts to report having had a mammogram within the past two years, at 70.3 and 73.1, while only about 47 percent of immigrants who had lived in the United States for less than 10 years reported being screened in the past two years.
Years of education also was associated positively with screening uptake.
“Healthy People objectives are important for monitoring progress toward reducing the burden of cancer in the United States,” said study co-author Carrie Klabunde, PhD, MHS, MBA, an epidemiologist in the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. “Our study points to the particular need for finding ways to increase the use of breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening tests among Asians, Hispanics, as well as adults who lack health insurance or a usual source of health care,” said Klabunde, who is an APHA member.
For more information or to download the study, visit www.cdc.gov/mmwr.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
