Characteristics of study patients
| Characteristic | No. (%) of patients* n = 6212 |
|---|---|
| Sex | |
| Female | 3071 (49.4) |
| Male | 3141 (50.6) |
| Age, yr, mean (range) | 56.9 (13–92) |
| Patient’s first colonoscopy occurred in study† | |
| Yes | 2568 (41.3) |
| No | 3643 (58.7) |
| Predominant indication category for colonoscopyठ| |
| CRC screening | 1757 (28.3) |
| (FIT positive) | 1058 (17.0) |
| Symptom investigation | 2345 (37.7) |
| Surveillance | 1634 (26.3) |
| Other | 474 (7.6) |
| Location of colonoscopy | |
| Grande Prairie | 3364 (54.2) |
| Hinton | 1325 (21.3) |
| Peace River | 721 (11.6) |
| Whitecourt | 398 (6.4) |
| High Level | 234 (3.8) |
| McLennan | 170 (2.7) |
Note: CRC = colorectal cancer, FIT = fecal immunochemical test.
↵* Unless stated otherwise.
↵† Missing 1 patient’s first colonoscopy result.
↵‡ Missing 2 patients’ indication results.
↵§ Definitions of indication categories: CRC screening: FIT positive, family history of CRC, Lynch syndrome or familial adenomatous polyposis, average risk screen. Symptom investigation: abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, rectal bleeding, anemia. Surveillance: follow-up colonoscopies for inflammatory bowel disease, CRC or polyps. Although individual patients may have had more than 1 indication for their colonoscopy, the endoscopy team chose the predominant indication.