Cancer Screening Test Use - United States, 2015

Abstract

Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) includes objectives to increase screening for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer (1) as recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).* Progress toward meeting these objectives is monitored by measuring cancer screening test use against national targets using data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) (1). Analysis of 2015 NHIS data indicated that screening test use remains substantially below HP2020 targets for selected cancer screening tests. Although colorectal cancer screening test use increased from 2000 to 2015, no improvements in test use were observed for breast and cervical cancer screening. Disparities exist in screening test use by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and health care access indicators. Increased measures to implement evidence-based interventions and conduct targeted outreach are needed if the HP2020 targets for cancer screening are to be achieved and the disparities in screening test use are to be reduced.

FIGURE

Percentage of adults who were up to date with screening for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers, by test, sex, and year — United States, 2000–2015. Abbreviation: CRC = colorectal cancer. * The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends mammography within 2 years for women aged 50–74 years. ^† USPSTF recommends Papanicolaou (Pap) test within 3 years for women aged 21–65 years without hysterectomy, or Pap test with human papillomavirus test within 5 years for women aged 30–65 years without hysterectomy. To account for changing screening recommendations over time for cervical cancer for women aged 21–65 years without hysterectomy, only trends for Pap test within 3 years for women aged 21–65 years without hysterectomy were assessed; Pap test data for 2003 are missing. ^§ The USPSTF recommends three options for CRC screening: 1) fecal occult blood test within 1 year; 2) sigmoidoscopy within 5 years and fecal occult blood test within3 years; or 3) colonoscopy within 10 years for respondents aged 50–75 years.