Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of beneficiaries and proportion receiving colon tests
| Any invasive test * | Invasive screening test † | |||||||||
| Demographic characteristics (n, %) | Fecal occult blood test (%) | All (%) | Colono- scopy (%) | Flexible sigmoid-oscopy (%) | Barium enema (%) | All (%) | Colon-oscopy (%) | Flexible sigmoid-oscopy (%) | Barium enema (%) | |
| All subjects | 401961 (100) | 9.15 | 7.19 | 4.19 | 2.41 | 0.59 | 3.48 | 1.44 | 1.86 | 0.18 |
| Sex | ||||||||||
| Male | 168206 (41.8) | 8.57* | 7.48* | 4.31* | 2.64* | 0.54* | 4.04* | 1.73* | 2.12* | 0.18 |
| Female | 233755 (58.2) | 9.57 | 6.97 | 4.11 | 2.25 | 0.62 | 3.08 | 1.23 | 1.66 | 0.18 |
| Age | ||||||||||
| 65–69 | 100754 (25.1) | 10.27* | 7.87* | 4.35* | 3.05* | 0.47* | 4.39* | 1.71* | 2.51* | 0.18 |
| 70–74 | 100454 (25.0) | 10.39 | 8.04 | 4.59 | 2.87 | 0.59 | 4.19 | 1.73 | 2.27 | 0.19 |
| 75–79 | 90975 (22.6) | 9.77 | 7.56 | 4.53 | 2.39 | 0.64 | 3.60 | 1.58 | 1.82 | 0.20 |
| ≥ 80 | 109778 (27.3) | 6.48 | 5.46 | 3.39 | 1.41 | 0.65 | 1.89 | 0.83 | 0.90 | 0.16 |
| Race | ||||||||||
| White | 380492 (94.7) | 9.36* | 7.27* | 4.23* | 2.45* | 0.59* | 3.53* | 1.46* | 1.89* | 0.18 |
| Black | 5649 (1.4) | 4.66 | 6.30 | 3.77 | 2.05 | 0.48 | 2.81 | 1.26 | 1.49 | 0.07 |
| Hispanic | 2179 (0.5) | 3.12 | 4.68 | 2.75 | 0.87 | 1.06 | 1.61 | 0.60 | 0.69 | 0.32 |
| Asian | 6946 (1.7) | 5.83 | 5.64 | 3.43 | 1.86 | 0.30 | 2.58 | 1.04 | 1.41 | 0.13 |
| Other | 6595 (1.6) | 6.60 | 5.78 | 3.71 | 1.77 | 0.29 | 2.56 | 1.12 | 1.35 | 0.09 |
| Residence | ||||||||||
| Rural | 73041 (18.2) | 10.64* | 6.85* | 4.04 | 2.28 | 0.54 | 3.26* | 1.37 | 1.72* | 0.17 |
| Urban | 328920 (81.8) | 8.82 | 7.26 | 4.22 | 2.44 | 0.60 | 3.53 | 1.46 | 1.89 | 0.18 |
* Statistically significant difference (p < 0.005).
* All flexible sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, or barium enema exams
† Invasive tests (flexible sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, or barium enema) without an associated exclusion diagnosis such as abdominal pain or anemia