Colorectal Cancer Screening, Comorbidity, and Follow-up in Elderly Patients

In this sample, only 41% of patients with positive FOBT underwent a full colon examination within 12 months of a positive FOBT. Although comorbidity burden was considerable, there was no association between comorbidity score and referral for or performance of a full colon examination. These results suggest that inappropriate patients receive CRC screening, which may contribute to delays for screening appropriate patients and diagnostic delays for others with positive screening test findings.