Original articleImpact of Colorectal Cancer Screening on Future Lifestyle Choices: A Three-Year Randomized Controlled Trial
Section snippets
Design and Study Population
A flowchart with details on allocation, exclusions, nonattendees, and nonresponders is given in Figure 1. Those invited for screening (n = 6961) and controls (n = 7000) were randomly drawn from the population registry. The screening group was invited to a once only flexible sigmoidoscopy (FS) examination or a combination of once only FS and an FOBT (1:1), whereas the control group did not receive any intervention. The groups consisted of men and women (1:1) born between 1946–1950 (age 50–55
Results
Of the baseline responders (n = 8485), 83% (n = 7060) completed the follow-up survey (Figure 1). Among those classified as lost to follow-up (n = 137), 52 persons were deceased, 30 had emigrated, 38 were unreachable as a result of unknown address, and 17 persons asked to be withdrawn from the study. The response rates for the follow-up questionnaire among eligible baseline responders (n = 8348) were 84% (3462/4139) and 85% (3598/4209) for controls and screened group, respectively.
Mean values
Discussion
The present study has demonstrated undesirable lifestyle changes associated with CRC screening. Subjects invited to screening reduced their intake of fruit, berries, and vegetables, did not follow the trend of increased frequency of physical exercise seen for controls, gained more weight, and did not improve their smoking habits as successfully as did the controls not invited for screening. Also, normal findings at screening (no neoplasia) were associated with a subsequent statistically
Conclusion
In the present study, 50- to 55-year-old individuals invited to FS screening for colorectal neoplasia had poorer improvement in smoking habits, poorer increase in the total score of exercise, poorer increase in the intake of fruit, berries, and vegetables per day, and a higher increase in body weight compared with controls not invited to screening. The importance of this in terms of future lifestyle-related morbidity and deaths is not clear, but it might represent a considerable educational
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2022, Clinical Gastroenterology and HepatologyCitation Excerpt :An FOBT-based CRC screening study from the United Kingdom found an increase in physical activity for screened participants.13 The NORCCAP (Norwegian Colorectal Cancer Prevention) study using sigmoidoscopy screening found an unfavorable change in physical activity after screening at 3 and 11 years’ follow-up.7,8 Only at 3-year follow-up were an increase in smoking and weight and a decrease in fruit and vegetable consumption observed after screening.7
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Supported by the Norwegian Cancer Society and the Norwegian Department of Health.