WEDNESDAY, March 29 (HealthDay News) -- The number of states/areas where more than 60 percent of people over the age of 50 have been screened for colorectal cancer nearly doubled in the United States between 2002 and 2004, from seven states and Washington, D.C., to 14 states and Washington, D.C., the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in the March 24 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
CDC officials compared data from 2002 and 2004 from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a telephone survey of 146,794 individuals at least 50 years old from 49 states and Washington, D.C. Participants were asked whether they had ever had fecal occult blood testing, sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy, and when the test had last been performed.
"Although this increase in reported use of colorectal cancer tests is encouraging, use of tests for colorectal cancer continues to lag behind use of mammography and Papanicolau smear tests for breast cancer and cervical cancer, respectively," CDC officials write. "Measures to increase awareness and encourage regular colorectal cancer screening must be continued to reduce mortality from colorectal cancer."
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