Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Self-Reported Colorectal Cancer Screening by Race/Ethnicity, New Jersey, 2012 to 2020
Indicator Report Data View Options
Why Is This Important?
The fecal occult blood test and sigmoidoscopy are important tools in the detection of various health conditions, especially cancer of the colon and rectum. Colorectal cancer is unfortunately relatively common, does not have symptoms in its early stages, and has a risk that increases with age. Regular colorectal cancer screening is one of the most effective means by which colorectal cancer can be prevented or found early, when treatment is easier. Such screening helps people stay healthy and protects lives. The majority of diagnoses of this type of cancer occur in people who are over the age of 50. As a result, most people are advised to begin receiving these screening tests at age 50. Screening for hidden blood in the stool, using the fecal occult blood test, results in the detection of colorectal cancer at relatively high rates. Additionally, widespread use of this non-invasive, annual test has been shown to decrease both incidence and mortality in randomized controlled trials. By contrast, sigmoidoscopy is a minimally invasive test which uses a tiny video camera to examine the structure of the rectum and the lower part of the colon to find any abnormal areas. A sigmoidoscopy is usually performed only once every 5 years, depending on one's personal risk for colorectal cancer, but is also proven to decrease colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. Although this is a more involved procedure, sigmoidoscopy does have an enhanced ability, when compared to the fecal occult blood test, to find both cancer and colorectal polyps. Polyps are small growths which can over time become cancer, if left in place. Any polyps that are discovered can immediately be extracted through the medical device used for a sigmoidoscopy to prevent possible progression to cancer or to better assess whether or not any cancer is currently present.
Definition
Estimated percentage of New Jersey adults ages 50-75 years who are current with colorectal cancer screening recommendations. An individual is considered current if they have had a take-home fecal immunochemical test (FIT) or high-sensitivity fecal occult blood test (FOBT) within the past year, and/or a flexible sigmoidoscopy within the past 5 years with a take-home FIT/FOBT within the past 3 years, and/or a colonoscopy within the past ten years.
Data Notes
- Data have been age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population.
- No data were collected in 2013, 2019.
Data Source
Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, Center for Health Statistics, New Jersey Department of Health(http://www.nj.gov/health/chs/njbrfs/)
How the Measure is Calculated
Numerator:
Number of New Jersey adults aged 50-75 years who reported that they are current with colorectal cancer screening recommendations.Denominator:
The total number of survey respondents aged 50-75 excluding those who answered "don't know" or "refused" to the numerator question.
Data Issues
Data from the New Jersey Behavioral Risk Factor Survey are intended to be representative of all non-institutionalized adult residents of New Jersey. Due to resource issues, however, adults with limited personal access to phone service or limited command of either English or Spanish are not represented. As with all surveys, also, some error results from nonresponse (e.g., refusal to participate in the survey or to answer specific questions), and faulty measurement (e.g., responses affected by social desirability or recall error). Data collection procedures intended to minimize such errors include the use of strict calling protocols, good questionnaire design, standardization of interviewer behavior, interviewer training, and frequent, on-site interviewer monitoring and supervision. Statistical weighting procedures are also used to minimize the potential impact of disproportionate representation of demographic subgroups defined in terms of age, sex, race, ethnicity, education level, marital status, home ownership, and county of residence. (See also [[a href="query/BRFSSQueryTechNotes.html" Behavioral Risk Factor Survey Data Description and Technical Notes]].)Related Health Objectives and Indicators
Health Initiative: HP2030
Healthy People 2030 Objective C-07
U.S. Target: Increase the proportion of adults aged 45 to 75 years who receive a colorectal cancer screening to 68.3 percent (age-adjusted) by 2030.0
https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/cancer/increase-proportion-adults-who-get-screened-colorectal-cancer-c-07
Health Initiative: HP2020
Healthy People 2020 Objective C-16
U.S. Target: Increase the proportion of adults aged 50-75 years who receive a colorectal cancer screening to 70.5 percent (age-adjusted) by 2020.0
https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/cancer
Health Initiative: HNJ2020
Healthy NJ 2020 Objective CA-15
NJ Target: Increase colorectal cancer screening among adults aged 50-75 years to 70.2 percent (age-adjusted) for the total population, 62.6% for Asians, 71.5% for Blacks, 69.2% for Hispanics, and 72.1% for Whites by 2020.0
https://www.nj.gov/health/chs/hnj2020/topics/cancer.shtml
Health Initiative: CDI
Chronic Disease Indicator CAN06
Description: Colorectal cancer screening among adults aged 45-75 years
https://www.cdc.gov/cdi/indicator-definitions/cancer.html
Health Initiative: EPHT
Environmental Public Health Tracking Indicator PV-184
Description: Prevalence among adults of health insurance, dental visits, mammography, cervical cancer screening, colorectal cancer screening, cholesterol screening
https://ephtracking.cdc.gov/indicatorPages?selectedContentAreaAbbreviation=13&selectedIndicatorId=184