Colorectal, prostate, and skin cancer screening among hispanic and white non-hispanic men, 2000-2005.

Background: Hispanic men have lower colorectal, prostate, and skin cancer screening rates than white non-Hispanic men. Programs designed to increase screening rates, including the national Screen for Life campaign specifically for promoting colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, regional educational/research programs, and state cancer control programs, have been launched. Screen for Life and some intervention programs included educational materials in Spanish as well as English. 

Objective: To assess whether CRC as well as prostate and skin cancer screening rates among Hispanic and white non-Hispanic men changed between 2000 and 2005. 

Methods: Cancer screening rates were compared between 2000 and 2005 using the National Health Interview Survey data. The age ranges of the study subjects and definitions of cancer screening were site specific and based on the American Cancer Society recommendations. 

Results: Hispanic men were less likely to comply with cancer screening guidelines than white non-Hispanic men. However, significant increases in CRC endoscopic screening were observed in both ethnic groups. It increased 2.1-fold and 2.4-fold for Hispanics and white non-Hispanics, respectively (P < .05). In contrast, the use of home fecal occult blood tests decreased among white non-Hispanics but remained similar among Hispanics. Prostate-specific antigen screening remained stable, while the use of skin cancer screening tended to increase among both groups. 

Conclusion: Although cancer screening rates may be affected by multiple factors, our study suggested the intervention programs such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national Screen for Life campaign may have raised CRC screening awareness and may contributed to the increase in endoscopic screening rates among both ethnic groups.