Study shows the general public meets government cancer screening goals for prostate cancer only
Over the last 10 years, the use of preventive cancer screenings has fallen in the United States, according to a study published December 27, 2012, in the open-access journal Frontiers in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention.
“There is a great need for increased cancer prevention efforts in the US, especially for screening as it is considered one of the most important preventive behaviors and helps decrease the burden of this disease on society in terms of quality of life, the number of lives lost and insurance costs,” said lead author Tainya Clarke, MPH, research associate in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “But despite this, our research has shown that adherence rates for cancer screenings have generally declined, with severe implications for the health outlook of our society.”
For their study, Clarke and colleagues evaluated the cancer screening adherence rates for breast, cervical, colorectal, and prostate cancers among the general public and cancer survivors to see if government-recommended screenings goals were achieved.
The study included 174,393 total people, with 7528 employed cancer survivors and 119,374 people representing the general population. Researchers used the recommended cancer screening rates set by the US Department of Health and Human Services and looked at data from the National Health Interview Survey between 1997 and 2010.
Results showed that government goals for cancer screenings were not met by the general public for any cancer type except colorectal cancer. Approximately 54% of the general public received colorectal screenings, surpassing the government’s goal of 50%.
By contrast, higher screening rates were observed among cancer survivors. Recommended cancer screenings rates were met for all types except cervical cancer, which decreased to 78% over the last 10 years. However, the study showed a decline in cancer screenings among cancer survivors over the last 3 years.
Clarke and her team speculated that differences in the screening guidelines from the United States Preventive Services Task Force, American Cancer Society, and others might have influenced the drop in screening rates.
Source: University of Miami Health System.