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CHICAGO — Many older Americans get repeat colon cancer tests they don’t need and Medicare pays for it, suggests a study that spotlights unnecessary risks to the elderly and a waste of money.
Almost half of the Medicare patients in the study had had a colonoscopy less than seven years after getting normal results from an earlier test. The test is recommended every 10 years, starting at age 50, for people at average risk whose initial test is normal.
The study showed that among those 80 and older, one-third had a repeat exam within seven years of the previous colonoscopy. That is an age group that can skip the test altogether if no problems have been spotted before.
The study appeared in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine.
