Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women, after lung and breast cancer. (1) Colorectal cancer is most common in people age 50 and older and the risk increases with age. (2) Regular screening examinations, including sigmoidoscopy, can reduce a woman’s risk for developing colorectal cancer and are recommended for women age 50 and older. (3)
What percentage of women age 50 and older have ever had a sigmoidoscopy?
The Report Card benchmark is the Healthy People 2010 goal that at least 50 percent of people age 50 and older have had a sigmoidoscopy at some point in their lives (when applied to women) [Healthy People 2010 Objective 3-12b].
Data Source: Colorectal Cancer Screening (%), 2004
EXPLANATION:
This measure includes women age 50 and older in the non-institutionalized civilian population who reported ever having had a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy.
SOURCE:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data (BRFSS), 2004, available at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/index.asp. The national number is the median of 49 states and the District of Columbia, excluding Hawaii. The 2004 data from Hawaii is not available as part of the 2004 BRFSS aggregate dataset. The overall state number for Hawaii is from 2004 BRFSS data on the state’s website. Hawaii State Department of Health, Health Statistics, 2004 State of Hawaii Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, available at http://www.hawaii.gov/health/statistics/brfss/brfss2004/brfss04.html. Data for race/ethnicity and age are two-year averages from 2002 and 2004 and are age-adjusted to the 2000 standard population. Note that data for race/ethnicity reported in the Asian/Pacific Islander column reflects only Asian data for 49 states and the District of Columbia and reflects only Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander data for Hawaii. A small number of states included the question in 2003. For those states, the data from 2003 are included and the data reported represents three-year averages (Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming). Data for race/ethnicity and age for Hawaii are reported as two-year averages from 2002-2003. National Center for Health Statistics, Health Data for All Ages: Health Care Access and Use, Health Status and Disability, and Health Conditions and Risk Factors Tables, available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/health_data_for_all_ages.htm.