This week’s New England Journal of Medicine includes a study from Norway on efficacy of colonoscopy. The conclusions aren’t necessarily applicable to colorectal cancer screening in the U.S.
Here are a few issues to keep in mind when reading the study and talking with your patients:
Talking points for your patients:
- Don’t let media headlines guide your health care decisions. Colonoscopy is effective in the U.S. population and can cut your risk of dying from CRC.
- Most of the patients in the Norway study skipped their colonoscopy. The test can’t prevent cancers if it isn’t done.
- Colorectal cancer screening saves lives. If you’re age 45+, get screened. Colonoscopy can detect and remove polyps so they do not develop into cancer.
If you know your adenoma detection rate, compare it to the rates of the doctors in the study.
Thanks to AGA President John Carethers and David Lieberman, chair of the AGA Executive Committee on the Screening Continuum, for his comments on this study. Read more about AGA’s CRC task force and our call for a national screening program.
