title: Colon cancer screening in U.S. adults aged 65 and older according to life expectancy and age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine receipt of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening according to age and life expectancy (LE) in adults aged 65 and older.
  
  
  METHODS
  Population-based survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  United States.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community dwelling adults aged 65 and older who participated in the 2008 or 2010 National Health Interview Survey (N = 7,747).
  
  
  METHODS
  Receipt of CRC screening (e.g., colonoscopy within 10 years) was examined according to age and LE (≥10 and <10 years), adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and survey year. Frequency of CRC screening was also examined according to age and LE at time of screening (e.g., age at colonoscopy rather than at interview). Participants screened when they were aged 75 and older or had less than a 10-year LE were considered to have received screening inconsistent with guidelines.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 38.5% of participants had less than a 10-year LE; 40.2% were aged 75 and older, and 56.3% had received recent CRC screening (90.1% by colonoscopy). CRC screening was higher in 2010 (58.9%) than 2008 (53.7%, P <.001) and was associated with longer LE and younger age, although 51.1% of adults aged 75 and older reported receiving CRC screening, as did 50.9% of adults with less than a 10-year LE. Based on age and LE at time of screening (rather than at interview), 28.4% of CRC screening of adults aged 65 and older was targeted to those aged 75 and older and those with less than a 10-year LE. Of adults aged 65 to 75 with a 10-year LE or more (adults recommended for screening by guidelines), 39.2% had not recently been screened.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Older adults with little chance of benefit because of limited LE commonly undergo CRC screening, whereas many adults aged 65 to 75 with a 10-year LE or greater are not screened.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Mara A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Schonberg
authors.forename: Erica S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Breslau
authors.forename: Mary Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Hamel
authors.forename: Keith M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Bellizzi
authors.forename: Ellen P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: McCarthy
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003113:Colonoscopy; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003625:Data Collection; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000639:trends*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008297:Male; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D014481:United States
keywords: colorectal cancer screening; life expectancy; older women