TABLE 1—
Yearly Colorectal Cancer Mortality Rate Ratios, by Socioeconomic Status (SES) Tertile and Policy Date: United States, 1968–2005
| SES Tertile |
|||
| Year | Low | Middle | High |
| 1968 | 3.49 | 4.18 | 4.24 |
| 1969 | 3.24 | 4.11 | 4.59 |
| 1970 | 3.27 | 4.01 | 4.40 |
| 1971 | 3.36 | 3.86 | 4.29 |
| 1972 | 3.31 | 4.98 | 4.26 |
| 1973 | 3.38 | 3.91 | 4.43 |
| 1974 | 3.32 | 4.03 | 4.24 |
| 1975 | 3.23 | 4.03 | 4.36 |
| 1976 | 3.44 | 3.93 | 4.42 |
| 1977 | 3.35 | 4.01 | 4.49 |
| 1978 | 3.34 | 4.18 | 4.49 |
| 1979 | 3.42 | 3.90 | 4.15 |
| 1980 | 3.51 | 3.98 | 4.20 |
| 1981 | 3.45 | 4.01 | 4.19 |
| 1982 | 3.36 | 3.91 | 4.29 |
| 1983 | 3.33 | 3.99 | 4.09 |
| 1984 | 3.40 | 4.16 | 4.20 |
| 1985 | 3.38 | 4.25 | 4.18 |
| 1986 | 3.52 | 3.80 | 4.24 |
| 1987 | 3.48 | 3.81 | 4.00 |
| 1988 | 3.34 | 3.84 | 3.97 |
| 1989 | 3.48 | 3.82 | 4.01 |
| 1990 | 3.53 | 3.76 | 4.15 |
| 1991 | 3.65 | 3.88 | 3.75 |
| 1992 | 3.70 | 3.60 | 3.56 |
| 1993 | 3.53 | 3.89 | 3.58 |
| 1994 | 3.48 | 3.63 | 3.57 |
| 1995 | 3.56 | 3.72 | 3.52 |
| 1996 | 3.49 | 3.66 | 3.35 |
| 1997 | 3.46 | 3.56 | 3.36 |
| 1998 | 3.63 | 3.62 | 3.22 |
| 1999 | 3.51 | 3.40 | 3.44 |
| 2000 | 3.39 | 3.41 | 3.52 |
| 2001 | 3.50 | 3.26 | 3.14 |
| 2002 | 3.60 | 3.47 | 2.98 |
| 2003 | 3.60 | 3.21 | 2.97 |
| 2004 | 3.42 | 3.06 | 2.71 |
| 2005 | 3.23 | 3.00 | 2.64 |
Note. The American Cancer Society recommendations and guidelines were made public in 1980; the US Multi-Society Task Force provided its first guidelines in 1997. Initially colorectal cancer mortality rates were substantially higher among those living in high-SES counties (top 33%) than among those living in low-SES counties (bottom 33%); by 1991, however, these rates were lower than those among residents of middle-SES counties, and by 1995 they surpassed rates among those living in low-SES counties. Middle-SES counties experienced the same, if slower, reductions and surpassed low-SES counties in 1998.