Embargoed for Release Until: Sunday, October 11, 1998, 6:00 p.m. Contact: Dana Victor Montenegro 202/973-5871 or [email protected]
Colonoscopy Reveals A Greater Percentage of Significant Findings In Symptomatic Men Despite Equal Prevalence Between the Sexes of Many Diseases of the Colon
Boston, MA, October 11, 1998 -- A greater proportion of clinically significant findings were identified in men than in women among a large population of patients with GI symptoms who were studied by colonoscopy, a diagnostic examination of the colon, according to a study conducted at the Mayo Clinic presented to the 63rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology. This research extends an earlier analysis by Mayo researchers of the utilization of colonoscopy that found that fewer women undergo colonoscopy screening.
Researchers W. Ray Kim, MD, MBA, Christopher J. Gostout, MD, FACG, G. Richard Locke II, MD, and Alan Zinsmeister, PhD compared the diagnostic yield of colonoscopy -- the proportion of diagnostic exams which produced abnormal findings -- for age- and gender-stratified random samples of all patients with GI symptoms or indications who received colonoscopy at the Mayo Clinic in 1993 and 1995. Their findings revealed that of the Mayo patients studied, there was a lower prevalence of colonic disease among women who underwent colonoscopy.
Fifty-two percent of examinations in men who had GI symptoms resulted in the identification of abnormal conditions, including gastrointestinal bleeding, inflammatory bowel disease, or precancerous changes or growths, contrasting with only forty-three percent of examinations in women who had similar GI symptoms or indications. This difference persisted when the yield was assessed by calendar year, indication, and whether or not the referring physician was a GI specialist.
The Mayo researchers note that while the lower yield of significant findings in women may appear to justify the lower utilization of colonoscopy among women, "since many colonic diseases affect men and women equally, current colonoscopy practices may not accurately identify women who need this procedure."
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