Some of Us Don't Get It

Posting Date: 03/17/2004

New Gallup Survey on Patients' Perceptions Regarding Preventative Testing Released

A new Gallup survey on ?Patients? Perceptions Regarding Preventive Testing,? looked at how patients? belief?s translated into action on such things as cervical cancer screening, breast cancer screening, colon cancer screening, prostate cancer screening and cholesterol testing. The survey was commissioned by the College of American Pathologists.

A particularly interesting finding from the survey focuses on cholesterol testing. And it is especially timely, since it has been widely reported recently that obesity is one of the top health issues in this country.

According the Gallup poll, many adults are still not having their cholesterol checked, especially adults under age 40. Even though, having your cholesterol checked regularly is one way to help prevent heart disease.

And doctors don?t seem to be recommending it as often as they might. Overall, only about one-third of all men (29%) and women (33%) surveyed under age 40 report that their health care provider has recommended that they have a cholesterol test. Yet medical guidelines recommend that anyone over age 20 should have it checked every five years.

Some adults think they NEVER have to have their cholesterol checked. Forty-two percent of men and 29 percent of women under age 40 in fact believe they NEVER have to have their cholesterol checked.

The College of American Pathologists is a medical society that serves nearly 16,000 physician members and the laboratory community throughout the world. The CAP is the world?s largest association composed exclusively of pathologists and is widely considered the leader in laboratory quality assurance. The CAP advocates high-quality, cost-effective patient care.

Embedded below are additional highlights from the Gallup study, which was conducted in November and December 2003. Diane Simpson or I will call you later this week to discuss this further. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact us at 800-323-4040, ext. 7538 or e-mail pfds@cap.org . The results should be of great interest to your listeners.

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