Indicator 12: Colorectal Cancer Screening

• Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer for both men and women and the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. More than 90% of cases are diagnosed in people aged 50 or older. In 2002, a total of 70,651 men and 68,883 women received a diagnosis of colorectal cancer, and 28,471 men and 28,132 women died from this disease.(1)
• The Healthy People 2010 target for colorectal cancer screening is to increase the proportion of people aged 50 or older who have ever received a sigmoidoscopy to 50%. However, the data included in this report are graded against the current screening recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which are more comprehensive. The Task Force recommends the following screening tests and intervals for adults aged 50 or older who are at average risk for colorectal cancer:
  • A fecal occult blood test (FOBT) every year.
  • Flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years.
  • Double-contrast barium enema every 5 years.
  • Colonoscopy every 10 years.(2)
• Call to action:
  • Promoting healthy behaviors among older adults
  • Increasing older adults use of clinical preventive services
  • Increasing screening for colorectal cancer

Location Data C.I.* Rank† Grade‡ United States 63.1 n/a n/a n/a Alabama 59.9 (56.2 - 63.6) 36 Alaska 60.6 (52.6 - 68.1) 32 Arizona 66.0 (61.4 - 70.4) 18 Arkansas 59.0 (55.6 - 62.3) 38 California 68.1 (63.9 - 72.0) 13 Colorado 65.5 (61.8 - 69.0) 20 Connecticut 71.4 (68.7 - 73.9) 6 Delaware 71.9 (68.0 - 75.5) 5 District of Columbia 68.7 (63.4 - 73.5) 10 Florida 68.3 (65.5 - 71.0) 12 Georgia 59.4 (55.4 - 63.4) 37 Hawaii§ 35.9 (32.1 - 39.9) 51 Idaho 58.2 (54.7 - 61.6) 41 Illinois 57.4 (53.6 - 61.1) 45 Indiana 58.0 (55.0 - 60.9) 42 Iowa 62.9 (59.8 - 65.9) 27 Kansas 58.8 (56.5 - 61.1) 39 Kentucky 56.3 (52.9 - 59.7) 47 Louisiana 58.7 (55.9 - 61.4) 40 Maine 73.4 (69.9 - 76.7) 1 Maryland 72.8 (69.0 - 76.3) 3 Massachusetts 68.4 (65.4 - 71.3) 11 Michigan 70.5 (67.6 - 73.3) 9 Minnesota 73.1 (69.9 - 76.0) 2 Mississippi 50.2 (47.1 - 53.3) 50 Missouri 60.9 (57.3 - 64.3) 31 Montana 66.1 (62.7 - 69.4) 17 Nebraska 56.7 (54.1 - 59.2) 46 Nevada 60.5 (54.8 - 65.9) 33 New Hampshire 71.0 (67.8 - 74.0) 8 New Jersey 63.1 (61.0 - 65.1) 26 New Mexico 61.3 (58.4 - 64.0) 30 New York 65.5 (62.3 - 68.7) 20 North Carolina 66.6 (64.6 - 68.5) 16 North Dakota 60.5 (56.4 - 64.4) 33 Ohio 60.2 (55.5 - 64.8) 35 Oklahoma 55.6 (53.1 - 58.1) 48 Oregon 64.2 (61.0 - 67.3) 24 Pennsylvania 62.0 (59.3 - 64.7) 29 Rhode Island 72.3 (68.6 - 75.6) 4 South Carolina 62.1 (59.3 - 64.9) 28 South Dakota 64.3 (61.7 - 66.9) 23 Tennessee 63.7 (59.8 - 67.4) 25 Texas 57.5 (54.1 - 60.9) 44 Utah 65.1 (61.3 - 68.7) 22 Vermont 68.0 (65.4 - 70.4) 14 Virginia 65.6 (61.3 - 69.6) 19 Washington 67.9 (66.0 - 69.6) 15 West Virginia 55.0 (51.2 - 58.6) 49 Wisconsin 71.1 (67.6 - 74.3) 7 Wyoming 57.8 (54.2 - 61.4) 43

Make comparisons Healthy People 2010 Targets

= Upper Third (top performing 33%)   = Middle Third (middle 33%)   = Lower Third (lowest performing 33%)         * A confidence interval (CI) describes the level of uncertainty of an estimate and specifies the range in which the true value is likely to fall. The State of Aging and Health in America online report uses a 95% level of significance, which means that 95% of the time, the true value falls within these boundaries.         † Rankings are based on the relative numeric scores for each indicator, with a ranking of "1" indicating the highest rank.         ‡ Grades are calculated as tertiles (thirds) and show state performance relative to all other states.         § 2003 data are used for Hawaii because no 2004 data exist.           Note: When comparing prevalence of variables across states or years, we recommend the use of confidence intervals. If the confidence intervals overlap, the difference is not statistically significant.