Colon Cancer Screening in the MHS

1

• Colon Cancer Screening in the MHS
• Results from the Health Care Survey of DoD
  Beneficiaries

2
Background

• Colon Cancer is responsible for over 50,000
  deaths per year
• More than half may be preventable with proper
  screening
• American Cancer Society (ACS) Screening
  Guidelines for people 50 and over
• Annual fecal occult blood testing (FOBT), or
• Sigmoidoscopy every 5 years, or
• Colonoscopy every 10 years
• Beginning March, 2006, TRICARE covers colonoscopy
  every 10 years for beneficiaries 50 and over

3
Methods

• Health Care Survey of DoD Beneficiaries
• Worldwide sample of beneficiaries eligible for
  TRICARE
• Fielded each quarter to stratified random sample
  of 50,000 adults
• Response rate 30
• Questions about colon cancer screening in
  January, 2006 and April, 2007 surveys

4
Colon Cancer Screening Rates by Beneficiary
Category
5
Colon Cancer Screening Rates by Usual Source of
Care
6
Colonoscopy within 10 Years, by Health Plan
7
Compliance with ACS Guidelines by Health Plan
8
Conclusions

• Compliance with ACS Guidelines for colon cancer
  screening increased between 2006 and 2007
• across all sources of care and beneficiary
  categories
• Increase in compliance is due to increasing
  colonoscopy rates
• with coincidental drop in less definitive methods
• Screening rates are highest among VA users
• while VA users most likely to have FOBT