A study published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that women might be able to delay scheduling regular colonoscopies a few years past the generally recommended age of 50.
The study, which analyzed 44,350 screening colonoscopies over a 4-year period in Austria, found that the rates of colon cancer in men and women between the ages of 50 and 54 varied greatly. The study found that men had a higher rate of advanced tumors in all age groups. Monika Ferlitsch, MD, of the Austrian Society for Gastroenterology and Hepatology in Vienna, Austria, and colleagues conducted the study with the goal of determining the most appropriate age at which to begin screening colonoscopies for both men and women.
The study found that there was no statistical difference between the prevalence of advances adenomas in men aged 45-49 and women aged 55-59. In the age range of 50-54, the rate of advanced adenomas was 5 percent in men but just 2.9 percent in women. The average number needed to screen to detect adenomas in the same age group was twice as high for women as it was for men. A similar NNS was found in men aged 45-49 and women aged 60-64.
"In our study, analysis of age- and sex-specific prevalence of adenomas, AAs and CRC indicates a significantly higher rate of these lesions among men compared with women in all age groups, suggesting that male sex constitutes an independent risk factor for colorectal carcinoma and indicating new sex-specific age recommendations for screening colonoscopy," the authors said.
More research is needed to determine what exactly those new recommendations should be.
"Deciding whether to adjust the age at which screening begins also requires considering whether the recommended age for women should be older or the recommended age for men younger," the authors said.
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The study, which analyzed 44,350 screening colonoscopies over a 4-year period in Austria, found that the rates of colon cancer in men and women between the ages of 50 and 54 varied greatly. The study found that men had a higher rate of advanced tumors in all age groups. Monika Ferlitsch, MD, of the Austrian Society for Gastroenterology and Hepatology in Vienna, Austria, and colleagues conducted the study with the goal of determining the most appropriate age at which to begin screening colonoscopies for both men and women.
The study found that there was no statistical difference between the prevalence of advances adenomas in men aged 45-49 and women aged 55-59. In the age range of 50-54, the rate of advanced adenomas was 5 percent in men but just 2.9 percent in women. The average number needed to screen to detect adenomas in the same age group was twice as high for women as it was for men. A similar NNS was found in men aged 45-49 and women aged 60-64.
"In our study, analysis of age- and sex-specific prevalence of adenomas, AAs and CRC indicates a significantly higher rate of these lesions among men compared with women in all age groups, suggesting that male sex constitutes an independent risk factor for colorectal carcinoma and indicating new sex-specific age recommendations for screening colonoscopy," the authors said.
More research is needed to determine what exactly those new recommendations should be.
"Deciding whether to adjust the age at which screening begins also requires considering whether the recommended age for women should be older or the recommended age for men younger," the authors said.
Related Articles on Colonoscopies:
Dr. Douglas Rex Discusses Future of Screening Colonoscopy
Poll Finds Low Follow-up Screening Rates for Colon Cancer
10 Best Practices to Market Colonoscopies