Cancer Health

Jump to another page... Introduction Fruits and vegetables Fruit consumption Vegetable consumption Use of food labels Smoking Routine annual checkups Colorectal screening Pap test Mammogram and breast exam Direct care physician to population ratio Hospitalization rate for malignant neoplasms Age-adjusted mortality for malignant neoplasms (cancer) Years potential life lost Female Breast Cancer

Use of food labels

Labels on most foods provide information about nutritional content in foods. Reading and using the information provides can help make sure that one is getting the desired nutrients and eliminating foods that contain undesirable amounts of nutrients and chemical compounds. This question was not collected in the 2004 or 2005 BRFSS but data collected in 2002 provides a reasonable estimate of the use of food labels. In 2002, 69 percent of Bexar County resident reported that they read and use food labels. The lowest percent reporting use of food labels was in the South sector at 63 percent. Sixty-six to 68 percent of residents in the East, West, and Northwest sectors report using food labels. The areas that report the highest use of food labels are the Northeast and North Central sectors at 72 and 74 percent respectively.

Smoking

Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death and disease and contributes significantly to cancer deaths. It is responsible for 87 percent of all lung cancer cases and 30 percent of all deaths from cancer. Stopping smoking is the best way for a smoker to lower their level of risk.84 The Healthy People 2010 goal is to reduce the number of people who smoke cigarettes to no more than 12 percent of the adult population.

Use of tobacco is gradually declining across the United States and Texas. In 2002, 23 percent of Texans smoked, in the period 2004-2005 the rate has declined to 20 percent.

In the period 2004-2005, 19 percent of Bexar County residents reported being smokers, a rate which is nearly unchanged from the 2002 report. The West sector reports the highest use of tobacco at 26 percent. The Northeast and Northwest follow with 20 percent of residents reporting current smoking. Residents of North Central and East sectors report smoking at rates of 15 and 16 percent respectively. The South sector has the lowest rate of smokers at 13 percent.

The number of people who report quitting smoking for at least one day in the past year increased from 43 percent in 2002 to 66 percent in the 2004-2005 report. This suggests that more smokers would like to stop smoking and there is continued need for effective smoking cessation programs.

Routine annual checkups

Many of the cancer screening tests are done as part of routine visits to the doctor. People with cancer or at risk for cancer should have routine annual medical checkups. In 2005, 63 percent of adults in Texas and Harris County indicated they had seen a physician in the past year. Sixty-six percent of Bexar County adults reported having a medical checkup in the past year. This is a decrease from 80 percent of all Bexar County adults who reported checkups in 2002. For Bexar County, this is a sizable drop in the total number of people reporting that they received routine checkups.

In south Bexar County the number of adults reporting routine checkup dropped from 80 percent in 2002 to 63 percent in 2005. In the northern sectors of Bexar County the rate dropped from 80 percent in 2002 to 67 percent in 2005. It is possible that there is not a significant difference between the north and south sectors (sampling error is ± 4 percent).

If people do not make routine visits to their provider, they are not receiving screening tests that provide early detection of cancer and lead to early treatment of cancerous conditions.

Colorectal screening

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Most deaths from colorectal cancer are preventable through screening. The Healthy People 2010 objective is for 50 percent of adults aged 50 years and older to have received a fecal occult blood test within the preceding 2 years. Across Texas there has been little change in the proportion of persons, aged over 50, receiving the fecal occult test since 2002. In Bexar County the percent has increased from 19 to 26 percent of adults, aged over 50, who report having received the test. The size of the sample is too small to make reliable estimates for Bexar County sectors.