Reasons for Ethnic Disparity in Colon Cancer Screening

Colon cancer screening is considered to be important for all ethnic groups because of the fact that the untreated disease is a leading killer of people from all backgrounds. Unfortunately, there is some disparity in the amount of screening that takes place between different ethnic groups. It is believed that this is due in large part to factors that are known and can be mitigated in white, Hispanic and black populations but that the different rates in the Asian population are caused by unknown factors. A recent study showed that there are three major factors that impact the disparity in colorectal cancer screening between whites, Hispanics and blacks. Those factors are socioeconomic status, access to quality health care and issues related to language barriers when working with doctors. When those factors are adjusted for, the rates of colon cancer screening are the same between the three groups. However, the rates are not the same for Asian groups even after these factors have been taken into consideration. It is not clear what the reason for this is but it is believed that it is due to factors that weren't taken into consideration such as aspects of cultural understanding of the health practices of the Asian population. Learn more about this disparity here. Question of the Day: What causes rates of colon cancer screening to be significantly different in Asian populations as compared to other ethnic groups?