Open Journal of Clinical Diagnostics

Volume 5, Issue 3 (September 2015)

ISSN Print: 2162-5816   ISSN Online: 2162-5824

Google-based Impact Factor: 0.94  Citations  

Patterns and Trends in Diagnostic Tests Used for Detection of Colorectal Cancer after Screening with the Immunochemical Fecal Occult Blood Test in Japan

HTML  XML Download Download as PDF (Size: 931KB)  PP. 107-116  
DOI: 10.4236/ojcd.2015.53018    4,004 Downloads   4,905 Views  Citations

ABSTRACT

According to the guidelines by the Japanese government, optical colonoscopy is the most strongly recommended diagnostic test after screening with the immunochemical fecal occult blood test (iFOBT), followed by double-contrast barium enema (BE) or sigmoidoscopy. Our study was to assess patterns and trends of colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnostic testing within 2 years after iFOBT. We analyzed both iFOBT results and claims data provided by employee health insurance societies in Japan from 2005 to 2010. 25,596 enrollees underwent iFOBT screening. The positive rate was 5.1%. 32.3% of those positive underwent diagnostic tests and 1.0% (12 patients) were confirmed as having cancer. The most common test was optical colonoscopy (77.2% of total tests), followed by BE (16.2%). From 2006 to 2009, the rate of optical colonoscopy for females increased from 55% to 82% and that of BE declined from 36% to 12%, while no significant changes were seen for males. Only one-third of those who tested positive underwent diagnostic test in the 2 years following screening iFOBT. As official guidelines for diagnostic testing of CRC recommend, optical colonoscopy is now the most commonly used diagnostic test after positive iFOBT result for enrollees in employee health insurance societies in Japan.

Share and Cite:

Yamamichi, J. , Seto, K. , Hinotsu, S. , Nagata, K. , Kobayashi, Y. , Urushihara, H. and Kawakami, K. (2015) Patterns and Trends in Diagnostic Tests Used for Detection of Colorectal Cancer after Screening with the Immunochemical Fecal Occult Blood Test in Japan. Open Journal of Clinical Diagnostics, 5, 107-116. doi: 10.4236/ojcd.2015.53018.

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.