Colorectal Cancer Screening (%)
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 colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy,3 can reduce a woman’s risk for developing colorectal cancer and can assist in the detection and treatment of colorectal cancer in its early stages. Therefore, this screening procedure is recommended for women age 50 and older.4 Despite this recommendation, screening for colorectal cancer lags far behind screening for both breast and cervical cancers.5 Screening rates are particularly low among individuals who lack health insurance, are without regular access to a healthcare provider or are members of certain racial and ethnic minority groups.6,7
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].
| State | State Overall Data | State Grade | State Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 60.8 | S | 31 |
| Alaska | 57.7 | S | 39 |
| Arizona | 61.8 | S | 27 |
| Arkansas | 55.5 | S | 47 |
| California | 60.6 | S | 32 |
| Colorado | 61.7 | S | 29 |
| Connecticut | 68.4 | S | 11 |
| Delaware | 73.5 | S | 1 |
| District of Columbia | 68.7 | S | 10 |
| Florida | 61.8 | S | 27 |
| Georgia | 63.2 | S | 22 |
| Hawaii | 57.8 | S | 38 |
| Idaho | 56.6 | S | 43 |
| Illinois | 57.6 | S | 40 |
| Indiana | 59.9 | S | 33 |
| Iowa | 63.9 | S | 21 |
| Kansas | 61.5 | S | 30 |
| Kentucky | 65.3 | S | 19 |
| Louisiana | 54.5 | S | 50 |
| Maine | 72.1 | S | 3 |
| Maryland | 71.2 | S | 4 |
| Massachusetts | 69.5 | S | 7 |
| Michigan | 69.1 | S | 8 |
| Minnesota | 72.8 | S | 2 |
| Mississippi | 56.6 | S | 43 |
| Missouri | 61.9 | S | 25 |
| Montana | 56.1 | S | 46 |
| Nebraska | 59.6 | S | 35 |
| Nevada | 52.2 | S | 51 |
| New Hampshire | 70.9 | S | 6 |
| New Jersey | 58.7 | S | 37 |
| New Mexico | 55.3 | S | 48 |
| New York | 65.1 | S | 20 |
| North Carolina | 67.4 | S | 14 |
| North Dakota | 59.2 | S | 36 |
| Ohio | 61.9 | S | 25 |
| Oklahoma | 57.2 | S | 41 |
| Oregon | 66.2 | S | 17 |
| Pennsylvania | 62.1 | S | 24 |
| Rhode Island | 67.3 | S | 15 |
| South Carolina | 66.2 | S | 17 |
| South Dakota | 62.9 | S | 23 |
| Tennessee | 59.7 | S | 34 |
| Texas | 56.9 | S | 42 |
| Utah | 67.9 | S | 12 |
| Vermont | 69.0 | S | 9 |
| Virginia | 71.1 | S | 5 |
| Washington | 66.7 | S | 16 |
| West Virginia | 55.3 | S | 48 |
| Wisconsin | 67.5 | S | 13 |
| Wyoming | 56.5 | S | 45 |
Data Source: Colorectal Cancer Screening (%), 2008.
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), 2008, available at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/brfss/index.asp and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Public Health and Science, Office on Women’s Health. Quick Health Data Online, 2010, Washington, DC, 2010, available at http://www.womenshealth.gov/quickhealthdata. The national overall number and national data by age are the median of 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data for race/ethnicity and age are two-year averages from 2006 and 2008 and are age-adjusted to the 2000 standard population. The following states included the question in 2007 and the data reported for these states represents three-year averages (Arizona, Hawaii, Iowa, Oklahoma, Vermont).
Footnotes
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Cancer Prevention and Control: Cancer among Women,” available at http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/data/women.htm, Last accessed September 7, 2010.
2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2010, 2nd ed. (Washington: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2000), at 3-15, available at: http://www.healthypeople.gov/Publications/.
3 A colonoscopy is an examination during which a hollow, lighted tube is used to visually inspect the walls of the rectum and most of the colon. Sigmoidoscopy is a similar procedure used to visually examine the walls of the rectum and part of the colon.
4 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, “Screening for colorectal cancer: Recommendation statement” (Rockville: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2008, “available at: http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspscolo.htm
5 Moyer, CS, “Colorectal cancer screening rates rising but still low. An NIH panel suggests eliminating financial barriers and implementing interventions to increase screening,” in American Medical News, March, 2010, available at: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/03/01/prsb0301.htm
6 Moyer, CS, “Colorectal cancer screening rates rising but still low. An NIH panel suggests eliminating financial barriers and implementing interventions to increase screening,” in American Medical News, March, 2010, available at: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/03/01/prsb0301.htm
7 American College of Gastroenterology, “Awareness, Earlier Screening Key to Reducing Colorectal Cancer Deaths, Disparities For African Americans,” March, 2010, available at: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/183268.php
