VCU Study: Some clinicians recommend repeat colonoscopies too soon

By Anne Buckley

A Virginia Commonwealth University family medicine physician says that while colonoscopies are important screening tools to detect colon cancer, endoscopists suggest repeat tests more often than recommended.

Alex Krist, M.D., assistant professor in the department of family medicine in the VCU School of Medicine, and colleagues reviewed the medical charts of nearly 1,300 patients who underwent colonoscopy.

In nearly 65 percent of the cases, the endoscopist’s report to the patient’s primary care physician gave specific suggestions as to when retesting should occur. Only 39 percent of these suggestions were correct according to the American Cancer Society and American Gastroenterological Association guidelines in effect at the time of the study. The endoscopists often recommended retesting at shorter intervals than guidelines suggested.

The study appears online and in the December issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Read the press release.