ABSTRACT
Routine screening for certain types of cancer is recommended for older adults and other at-risk populations by public and private health organizations, professional medical societies, medical practitioners, and advocacy groups. Many members of at-risk populations do not routinely follow these recommendations, however. A recent nationwide survey completed in the US found that only 19 per cent of adults aged 50 years old and above had completed a fecal occult blood test in the preceding year, and only 32 per cent had ever had a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy within the previous five years. About one-third of women aged 40 years old and above had not had a mammogram to screen for breast cancer in the year prior to the survey (Holtzman et al., 2000).
