Self-reported colorectal cancer screening of Medicare beneficiaries in family medicine vs. internal medicine practices in the United States: a cross-sectional study

Table 1 Characteristics of the study population by primary care physician specialty, MCBS 2006-2007 (n = 3,276)

Characteristic, %	General Internist, n = 1,624	Family Physicians, n = 1,652	Wald test p- values
Age, years
50-54	5.1	5.1
55-64	13.2	15.6	0.24
65-69	40.0	40.6
70-75	41.7	38.7
Race/Ethnicity
Whites	77.8	83.0
Blacks	10.5	8.4	0.02
Hispanics	7.8	5.7
Others	3.9	3.0
Female	55.5	54.3	0.54
Married or living together	63.3	63.4	0.94
Residing in Metropolitan Service Area	80.6	66.2	<0.01
Had less than high school diploma	19.1	26.6	<0.01
Annual household income <$25,000	44.4	49.1	0.03
Language of interview, English	95.1	98.2	<0.01
Working at a job	17.8	17.0	0.58
Delayed medical care due to cost	10.8	12.7	0.12
Had supplemental health insurance	74.8	69.7	0.01
Had a history of non-skin cancer	15.4	13.3	0.10
General health fair-to-poor	27.1	28.0	0.54

There were a total of 527 beneficiaries in the sample who were in Medicare because of disabilities. Compared to persons in Medicare because of age-eligibility, a higher proportion of those with disability were non-Hispanic blacks (8% vs. 18%) or were Hispanic (0.8% vs.2%) (p-value <0.01). They were less likely to be married (p-value <0.01), have supplemental insurance (p-value <0.01) or have received a high school diploma (p-value <0.01). Beneficiaries with disability were more likely to report fair or poor health (p-value <0.01), or have an annual income of < $25,000 (p-value <0.01). The proportion receiving care from FPs (53%) or internists (47%) was similar irrespective of disability status.

ISSN: 1471-230X