Obesity Status and Colorectal Cancer Screening in the United States

Abstract

Background. Findings from previous studies on an association between obesity and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening are inconsistent and very few studies have utilized national level databases in the United States (US). Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the 2005 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey to describe CRC screening rate by obesity status. Results. Of a 15,769 Medicare beneficiaries sample aged 50 years and older reflecting 39 million Medicare beneficiaries in the United States, 25% were classified as obese, consisting of 22.4% “obese” (30 ≤ body mass index (BMI) < 35) and 3.1% “morbidly obese” (BMI ≥ 35) beneficiaries. Almost 38% of the beneficiaries had a body mass index level equivalent to overweight (25 ≤ BMI < 30). Of the study population, 65.3% reported having CRC screening (fecal occult blood testing or colonoscopy). Medicare beneficiaries classified as “obese” had greater odds of CRC screening compared to “nonobese” beneficiaries after controlling for other covariates (ORadj = 1.25; 95% CI: 1.12–1.39). Conclusions. Findings indicate that obesity was not a barrier but rather an assisting factor to CRC screening among Medicare beneficiaries. Future studies are needed to evaluate physicians' ordering of screening tests compared to screening claims among Medicare beneficiaries to better understand patterns of patients' and doctors' adherence to national CRC screening guidelines.

Clinicopathological trends of colorectal carcinoma patients in a tertiary cancer centre in Eastern India

“…The literature suggests that around 9-15% of colorectal cancer cases have been attributed to overweight and obesity in United States and Europe. 30,31 In Indian scenario, a very few information has been available regarding on obesity or diabetes in relation with colorectal cancer. However, the current study has also such limitation to provide the information regarding the BMI status of those colorectal cancer patients.…”

Screening in the Era of Economic Crisis: Misperceptions and Misuse from a Longitudinal Study on Greek Women Undergoing Benign Vacuum-assisted Breast Biopsy

“…On the other hand the aggravating association pointing to marriage as a risk factor for misconception of urine analysis may reflect a different pattern of sexual activity, the latter being a risk factor for urinary tract infections (Moore et al, 2008); in other words married, sexually active women, may be prescribed urine analyses more frequently and thus seem to have converted this fact to a misperception. Higher BMI and smoking appeared as protective factors for the allocation of screening role to abdominal ultrasound and ECG respectively; it seems more rational to interpret these factors as markers of detachment from screening-related tests in general as demonstrated in the case of obese women (Sangrajrang et al, 2012;Kendall et al, 2013).…”

Reasons for No Colonoscopy After an Unfavorable Screening Result in Dutch Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Nationwide Questionnaire

“…This corroborates studies reporting that prior CRC screening participation is positively associated with future CRC screening participation as well as with diagnostic testing after screening. [35][36][37][38] Lack of knowledge regarding CRC and CRC screening has been associated with nonfollow-up with CRC screening. 39,40 A recent study described how misconceptions in these domains are common in multiple European countries.…”