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Adherence To Colonoscopy After Positive Fecal Immunochemical Testing Is Related To Patient Navigation and Distance From Center

Colorectal

Douglas K. Rex, MD, M¶¶Òô´ó¹Ï Idos GE, et al. Clin Transl Gastroenterol 2021 Feb.

In a comparison of colonoscopy adherence after positive fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) in 2017 without patient navigation (PN) versus 2018 with navigation, overall completion of colonoscopy increased from 40.6% to 46% with PN. Exposure to PN increased the adherence to colonoscopy by 4-fold. There was a 1% drop in colonoscopy adherence for each 1-kilometer (km) increase in distance from a patient’s residence to the center located in Los Angeles. These data suggest that adherence would change from 60% with a residence located very near the center to 25% with a distance of 100 km.

Comment:

The overall colonoscopy completion rates after positive FIT in this study, as in a number of others, is substantially below the quality target of 80% recommended by the Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer. Patient navigation appears important. Expanding the geographic availability of colonoscopy might increase colonoscopy adherence given the striking distance observations in this study.

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Douglas K. Rex, MD, M¶¶Òô´ó¹Ï

Bio and Disclosures

Citation(s):

Idos GE, Bonner JD, Haghighat S, et al. Bridging the gap: patient navigation increases colonoscopy follow-up after abnormal FIT. Clin Transl Gastroenterol 2021;12:e00307. ()