Colorectal Cancer Screening: Language is a Greater Barrier for Latino Men than Latino Women

Colorectal cancer screening (CRC) disparities between non-Latino Whites and Latinos remain, and may have increased. The goal of this analysis was to examine the association between Latino race/ethnicity, gender, and English-proficiency and CRC screening. Analysis of the CDC's BRFSS 2008 survey. We estimated crude and adjusted screening rates and odds ratios of respondents' reported CRC test receipt stratified by self-reported Latino ethnicity, gender, and limited English proficiency (LEP) as determined by language of survey response (English vs Spanish). Of 99,883 respondents included in the study populations, LEP Latino men had the lowest adjusted screening rates (48.2 %) which were lower that all other Latinos subgroups including Latina women with LEP (56.2 %). Compared to non-Latino White men, LEP Latino men were 0.47 times as likely to report receiving CRC screening tests (AOR 0.47; 95 % CI 0.35-0.63). Disparities in CRC screening are most dramatic for LEP Latino men.