A UCLA/Veteran's Affairs study showed that more than 40 percent of patients who initially had received a positive result on a fecal occult blood test (FOBT) -- an initial screening tool for colon cancer -- did not receive appropriate diagnostic follow-up tests such as a colonoscopy or barium enema in 2002. According to the authors, the study may even underestimate this problem in the United States, since previous studies have shown the VA's level of preventive care and follow-up traditionally has been higher than at most other health care settings.

Published in May in the journal Diseases of the Colon & Rectum, the UCLA/VA study is one of the largest reviews of colorectal screening and follow-up patient data to date. The study used data from the VA, the nation's largest integrated health care system. The study was performed as a prelude to a national VA effort, now underway, to improve colorectal cancer screening and suggested the need for better medical follow-through for patients with potential colon cancer.

Study authors took advantage of the VA's ongoing quality improvement program to analyze 39,870 patient records. Overall, 61 percent of eligible VA patients had been screened for colorectal cancer, a rate significantly higher than the national average. Of the screened population, 313 patients had an abnormal FOBT result. Only 59 percent, or 185 patients, of this group received follow-up diagnostic tests such as a colonoscopy or a barium enema. Forty-one percent, or 128 patients, received no follow-up at all in the six months following the FOBT.

"As a nation, we are getting better in providing colorectal cancer screening, but we need to do a much better job in following-up with diagnostic tests for those patients who have abnormal screening results," said Dr. David A. Etzioni, principal investigator and a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar in the Division of General Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

The aut
'"/>

Contact: Rachel Champeau
rchampeau@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-2270
University of California - Los Angeles
30-May-2006

Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. UCLA/VA research analysis in journal Nature explains wide variations in animal sleep habits
2. HealthGrades study: Bariatric surgery patients have fewer complications at high-volume hospitals
3. Case study: cross-cultural bioethics training program helps fight African brain drain
4. New study: Pycnogenol reduces heart failure
5. New study: Pine bark significantly reduces endometriosis
6. FSU study: Can prunes reverse bone loss after menopause?
7. New study: Preterm birth causes one-third of all infant deaths
8. FSU study: Abortion notification, consent laws reduce risky teen sex
9. National study: Patients poorly prepared for end-of-life decisions
10. U-M study: Program to boost elderly flu vaccination could save lives
11. Loyola study: Telemetry captures stroke patients cardiac problems