Here are five key statistics on colonoscopies published in the last month:
1. Two and a half times more colon cancer deaths can be expected to occur in people taking the blood test every three years as recommended, compared to those who undergo colonoscopy once a decade, according to a new study from Stanford Medicine.
2. The study, published Oct. 28, determined that death rates for patients undergoing blood tests are much higher than patients undergoing stool tests or traditional colonoscopies.
Here's the estimated case and death rate for every 100,000 people who choose:
- Colonoscopy -- 1,543 cases and 672 deaths
- Stool tests -- about 2,200 to 2,500 cases and 904 to 1,025 deaths
- Blood tests -- about 4,300 cases and 1,600 deaths
- No screening -- 7,500 cases and 3,600 deaths
3. Colorectal screening among 45- to 49-year -olds has increased threefold since 2021, according to an Oct. 3 study published in JAMA Network Open. On average, the researchers found colorectal screening rates among people ages 45 to 49 increased from around 0.5% before the 2021 guidelines to 1.5% a year and a half after the change. Though 1% seems small, researchers noted that it could encompass hundreds of thousands of people, according to the study.
4. A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that people aged 45-49 are utilizing fecal immunochemical testing for colorectal cancer screening at similar rates to older people. They also had similar detection of CRC via follow-up colonoscopies, which researchers said strongly supports maintaining 45 as the recommended age for colonoscopies.
5. Research published in JAMA found that shared decision-making in considering colonoscopies for patients over 75 did not make a statistically significant difference in concordance by patients in the study.