Examining the Factors That Affect the Diagnosis of Patients with Positive Fecal Occult Blood Test Results

Yin-Wen Cheng and Ying-Chun Li
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Yin-Wen Cheng: Department of Business Management, College of Management, National Sun Yat-Sen University, No. 70, Lien-Hai Rd., Gushan Dist., Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan
Ying-Chun Li: Institute of Health Care Management, National Sun Yat-Sen University, No. 70, Lien-Hai Rd., Gushan Dist., Kaohsiung 80424, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-15

Abstract: Due to the threat of colorectal cancer (CRC) to health, Taiwan included the fecal occult blood test (FOBT) under preventive health services in 2010. We examined the factors that affect the diagnosis of people with positive FOBT results. Data were retrospectively collected from the CRC screening database. In the model predicting factors that affect the diagnosis of 89,046 people with positive FOBT results, the risks of disease in the CRC group were lower in medical institutions that conducted follow-up examinations in regions such as Northern Taiwan compared to that in Eastern Taiwan ( p = 0.013); they were lower in the age group of 50 to 65 years than those in the age group of 71 to 75 years ( p < 0.001, p = 0.016), and lower in the outpatient medical units that conducted follow-up examinations than those in the inpatient medical units by 0.565 times ( p < 0.001, 95% CI: 0.493–0.647). Factors affecting the diagnosis of patients with positive FOBT results were gender, the region of the medical institution, medical unit for follow-up examinations, age, screening site, family history, type of follow-up examinations, and follow-up time. Therefore, the identification of characteristics of patients with positive FOBT results and the promotion of follow-up examination are important prevention strategies for CRC.

Keywords: fecal occult blood test; diagnosis results; colorectal cancer; colonoscopy; polyps (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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