50 percent of Americans Age 50 and older have never
had a
Colonoscopy
Newswise
— Only half of all Americans age 50 and over
have had a colonoscopy, one of several
common screening tests for colon cancer,
according to the latest News and Numbers
from the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality. The U.S. Preventive Services Task
Force recommends that all people age 50 and
over be screened for colon cancer – the
second leading cause of cancer deaths.
An AHRQ survey reports the following about
screening colonoscopy among Americans ages
50 and older:
• Nearly 67 percent of Hispanics age 50 and
older reported that they have never had a
screening colonoscopy. This compares to 47.1
percent of whites and 55.8 percent of
blacks.
•
More
than three-fourths (77 percent) of uninsured
adults between the ages of 50 and 64
reported that they have never had a
screening colonoscopy compared to people
with private insurance (54.1 percent) or
people covered by Medicaid and other public
coverage (61 percent).
• About slightly more than half of people
age 65 and older who had Medicare plus some
other public insurance reported never having
had a screening colonoscopy. Only 45 percent
of people in same age group who only had
Medicare coverage and 34.6 percent of people
who had Medicare plus some private insurance
reported never having had a screening
colonoscopy.
AHRQ, which is part of the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, works to
enhance the quality, safety, efficiency, and
effectiveness of health care in the United
States. The data in this AHRQ News and
Numbers summary are taken from the Medical
Expenditure Panel Survey, a detailed source
of information on the health services used
by Americans, the frequency with which they
are used, the cost of those services, and
how they are paid. For more information, go
to Screening Colonoscopy among the U.S.
Noninstitutionalized Adult Population Age 50
and Older, 2005
