Screening Beyond the Evidence: Patterns of Age and Comorbidity for Breast, Cervical, and Colorectal Cancer Screening
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Little evidence exists to guide continuation of screening beyond the recommended ages of national guidelines for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers, although increasing age and comorbidity burden is likely to reduce the screening benefit of lower mortality. Characterize screening after recommended stopping ages, by age and comorbidities in a large, diverse sample. Serial cross-sectional. All individuals in the PROSPR-I consortium cohorts from 75 to 89 years of age for breast cancer screening, 66-89 years of age for cervical cancer screening, and 76-89 years of age for colorectal cancer screening from 2011 to 2013. The lower age thresholds were based on the guidelines for each respective cancer type. Proportion of annual screening by cancer type in relation to age and Charlson comorbidity score and median years of screening past guideline age. We estimated the likelihood of screening past the guideline-based age as a function of age and comorbidity using logistic regression. The study cohorts included individuals screening for breast (n = 33,475); cervical (n = 459,318); and colorectal (n = 556,356) cancers. In the year following aging out, approximately 30% of the population was screened for breast cancer, 2% of the population was screened for cervical, and almost 5% for colorectal cancer. The median number of years screened past the guideline-based recommendation was 5, 3, and 4 for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer, respectively. Of those screening > 10 years past the guideline-based age,15%, 46%, and 25% had ≥ 3 comorbidities respectively. Colorectal cancer screening had the smallest decline in the likelihood of screening beyond the age-based recommendation. The odds of screening past guideline-based age decreased with comorbidity burden for breast and cervical cancer screening but not for colorectal. These findings suggest the need to evaluate shared decision tools to help patients understand whether screening is appropriate and to generate more evidence in older populations.
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Optimizing Colonoscopy & Fecal Immunochemical Tests for Community-Based ScreeningVermont PROSPR Research Center (VPRC)PROSPR Statistical Coordinating Center (PSCC)Studying Colorectal Cancer Effectiveness of Screening Strategies (SuCCESS)Parkand-UT Southwestern PROSPR Center: Colon cancer screening in a safety netOptimizing Colonoscopy & Fecal Immunochemical Tests for Community-Based ScreeningParkand-UT Southwestern PROSPR Center: Colon cancer screening in a safety netStudying Colorectal Cancer Effectiveness of Screening Strategies (SuCCESS)Penn Center for Innovation in Personalized Breast ScreeningAdvancing Systems Approaches to Personal and Population Breast Cancer ScreeningVermont PROSPR Research Center (VPRC)Optimizing Colonoscopy & Fecal Immunochemical Tests for Community-Based ScreeningNCI NIH HHS Grant U54CA164336).New Mexico HPV Outcomes, Practice Effectiveness and Surveillance (NM-HOPES)Advancing Systems Approaches to Personal and Population Breast Cancer ScreeningParkand-UT Southwestern PROSPR Center: Colon cancer screening in a safety netStudying Colorectal Cancer Effectiveness of Screening Strategies (SuCCESS)PROSPR Statistical Coordinating Center (PSCC)Penn Center for Innovation in Personalized Breast ScreeningNew Mexico HPV Outcomes, Practice Effectiveness and Surveillance (NM-HOPES)PROSPR Statistical Coordinating Center (PSCC)Vermont PROSPR Research Center (VPRC)Advancing Systems Approaches to Personal and Population Breast Cancer ScreeningPenn Center for Innovation in Personalized Breast ScreeningParkand-UT Southwestern PROSPR Center: Colon cancer screening in a safety netParkand-UT Southwestern PROSPR Center: Colon cancer screening in a safety netStudying Colorectal Cancer Effectiveness of Screening Strategies (SuCCESS)Studying Colorectal Cancer Effectiveness of Screening Strategies (SuCCESS)Optimizing Colonoscopy & Fecal Immunochemical Tests for Community-Based ScreeningOptimizing Colonoscopy & Fecal Immunochemical Tests for Community-Based ScreeningNew Mexico HPV Outcomes, Practice Effectiveness and Surveillance (NM-HOPES)National Cancer Institute Grant U54CA164336).