Screenings: Colonoscopy Suggestion May Be Made Too Often

By ERIC NAGOURNEY
Colonoscopies are a proven means of detecting small growths and removing them before they become deadly, but a new study suggests that many doctors are recommending them too often.
The study, in the December issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, was led by Dr. Alex H. Krist of the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond.
Researchers examined the records of 10 primary-care practices in Virginia and Maryland in 2006. They drew a random sample of 300 patients, ages 50 to 70, from each practice and looked at reports sent to the doctors.
The study found that about 60 percent of the time, the reports suggested that the patients return for a new colonoscopy sooner than the guidelines called for by the American Cancer Society and the American Gastroenterological Association.
In high-risk cases — patients who had a lot of polyps, large polyps of a family history of colon cancer — the doctors were more likely to follow the guidelines for that group.
Tests might be recommended sooner than called for by the guidelines, the researchers said, if, for example, an endoscopist did not get a clear view of the colon.