The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #35874

Carolyn Gregory, MA , MPH can, School of Public Health, Eastern Virginia Medical School, 9600 capeview Avenue apt a, Norfolk, VA 23503, 757 200 2702, cgregorymph@yahoo.com

Colon Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death. Survival is closely linked to disease stage at diagnosis. Low colon cancer screening participation is an obstacle to prevention with public health implications. The hypothesis that martial status has an effect of the gender prevalence of colon cancer deaths in Virginia was analyzed to see if public health dollars for primary colon cancer prevention could focus upon particular subpopulations. A cross sectional study of the National Vital Statistics data (1994-9) was analyzed to determine if the outcome of colon cancer by gender when stratified by marital status was statistically significant. Results: Prevalence data indicate deaths were 2.08% for the entire population studied with prevalence for unmarried as 2.2% and marrieds at 1.16%. Initial risk ratio of .93 indicated women to have a slightly protective effect from colon cancer by sex. Crude odds ratio for female vs. male was .93, for married vs. unmarried 1.92 with stratified odds ratio of married female vs. married male of 1.01 and single female vs. single male of 1.6 Conclusions: Crude vs. Stratified Odds ratios indicated non-married females 1.6 times more likely to die of colon cancer than non-married males while the likelihood of married men vs. women remained almost identical for the same population. Significant differences in prevalence of dying from colon cancer were found when stratified by marriage with non-married women having greater risk then non-married males. Stratified odds ratios show a compelling argument for study and prevention programs for this subpopulation.

Learning Objectives:

• Learning Objectives
• At the conclusion of the session, participants will be able to articulate the prevalence of death from Colon Cancer in the State of Virginia for the prescribed time period with reference to variations by gender and marital status.
• Participants will be able to list possible causative risk factors leading to these data conclusions.
• Participants will be able to draw conclusions on use of limited health care dollars to facilitate colon cancer screenings in the higher risk populations in the state of Virginia

Keywords: Public Health Education and Health Promotion, Cancer Screening

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.