Performance of the immunochemical fecal occult blood test in predicting lesions in the lower gastrointestinal tract.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Previous studies have suggested that the immunochemical fecal occult blood test has superior specificity for detecting bleeding in the lower gastrointestinal tract even if bleeding occurs in the upper tract. We conducted a large population-based study involving asymptomatic adults in Taiwan, a population with prevalent upper gastrointestinal lesions, to confirm this claim.

Methods

We conducted a prospective cohort study involving asymptomatic people aged 18 years or more in Taiwan recruited to undergo an immunochemical fecal occult blood test, colonoscopy and esophagogastroduodenoscopy between August 2007 and July 2009. We compared the prevalence of lesions in the lower and upper gastrointestinal tracts between patients with positive and negative fecal test result

SUBMITTER: Chiang TH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3176840 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature