Screening Colonoscopy to Prevent Colorectal Cancer Among Medicare Beneficiaries Aged 70 to 79 Years
Authors: Xabier García-Albéniz, John Hsu, Michael Bretthauer, Miguel A. Hernán
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2017)

Letters16 May 2017Screening Colonoscopy to Prevent Colorectal Cancer Among Medicare Beneficiaries Aged 70 to 79 YearsXabier García-Albéniz, MD, PhD, John Hsu, MD, MBA, MSCE, Michael Bretthauer, MD, PhD, and Miguel A. Hernán, MD, DrPHXabier García-Albéniz, MD, PhDFrom Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this author, John Hsu, MD, MBA, MSCEFrom Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this author, Michael Bretthauer, MD, PhDFrom Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this author, and Miguel A. Hernán, MD, DrPHFrom Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology, Boston, Massachusetts.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/L17-0138 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We share Dr. Shen and colleagues' concern about disparities in cancer care (1). Among all Medicare beneficiaries between 2004 and 2012, 10.3% were classified as non-Hispanic black (race/ethnicity is self-reported as white, black, Hispanic, Asian or Pacific Islander, or American Indian or Alaskan native when enrollees apply for a social security number [2]). The proportion decreases to 7.3% among those aged 70 to 79 years, which reflects the shorter survival of this group (3). It decreases further to 4.4% among recent users of preventive services, as Dr. Shen and colleagues note.We repeated our main analysis separately by ...References1. Valeri L, Chen JT, Garcia-Albeniz X, Krieger N, VanderWeele TJ, Coull BA. The role of stage at diagnosis in colorectal cancer black-white survival disparities: a counterfactual causal inference approach. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2016;25:83-9. [PMID: 26503034] doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-15-0456 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Scott CG. Identifying the race or ethnicity of SSI recipients. Soc Secur Bull. 1999;62:9-20. [PMID: 10769868] MedlineGoogle Scholar3. Shiels MS, Chernyavskiy P, Anderson WF, Best AF, Haozous EA, Hartge P, et al. Trends in premature mortality in the USA by sex, race, and ethnicity from 1999 to 2014: an analysis of death certificate data. Lancet. 2017;389:1043-54. [PMID: 28131493] doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30187-3 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology, Boston, Massachusetts.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M16-0758. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoEffectiveness of Screening Colonoscopy to Prevent Colorectal Cancer Among Medicare Beneficiaries Aged 70 to 79 Years Xabier García-Albéniz , John Hsu , Michael Bretthauer , and Miguel A. Hernán Screening Colonoscopy to Prevent Colorectal Cancer Among Medicare Beneficiaries Aged 70 to 79 Years Nicole T. Shen , Anna Maw , Yecheskel Schneider , and Russell Evan Rosenblatt Metrics Cited byShould we screen for colorectal cancer in people aged 75 and over? A systematic review - collaborative work of the French geriatric oncology society (SOFOG) and the French federation of digestive oncology (FFCD)Emulierung von „target trials“ mit Real-world-DatenThe diagnostic value of serum microRNA-183 and TK1 as biomarkers for colorectal cancer diagnosis 16 May 2017Volume 166, Issue 10Page: 758-759KeywordsColonoscopyColorectal cancerDisclosureHealth careHispanic peopleMedicareNative American peopleRacial and ethnic issues ePublished: 16 May 2017 Issue Published: 16 May 2017 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2017 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...