SynthesisFamily practice2020
Faecal immunochemical test to triage patients with abdominal symptoms for suspected colorectal cancer in primary care: review of international use and guidelines.
Synthesis in Family practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- The diagnostic accuracy of the faecal immunochemical test for the detection of early-onset colorectal cancer: an age-stratified analysis in South West England.British journal of cancer · 2025Article
- Factors Associated with Positive Fecal Immunochemical Test Results for Colorectal Cancer Screening among At-Risk Populations in Southern Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Analytic Study.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2025Article
- Are we ready? assessing effectiveness and implementation of cancer control strategies in primary care: a comprehensive review of systematic reviews.Family practice · 2025Review
- A scoping review of unexpected weight loss and cancer: risk, guidelines, and recommendations for follow-up in primary care.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Fecal occult blood and calprotectin testing to prioritize primary care patients for colonoscopy referral: The advantage study.United European gastroenterology journal · 2023Article
- Guidance on faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) to help diagnose colorectal cancer among symptomatic patients in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2023Article
- Patient-reported outcome measures show FIT as an acceptable investigation to rule out colorectal cancer in the two-week wait cohort.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2023Article
- The Diagnostic Accuracy of a Fecal Immunochemical Test in Detecting Colorectal Cancer and Advanced Precancerous Colorectal Neoplasia in Patients with Iron Deficiency: A Protocol for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Gastroenterology research and practice · 2023Article
- Use of faecal immunochemical tests common in patients with suspected colorectal cancer but unrelated to travel distance to secondary care: a population-based study from Swedish primary care.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2022Article
- FIT for colonoscopy: Benefits of the faecal immunochemical test for triaging symptomatic patients.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2022Article
- Article
- Faecal immunochemical test outside colorectal cancer screening?World journal of gastroenterology · 2021Review
- The Fast Track FIT study: diagnostic accuracy of faecal immunochemical test for haemoglobin in patients with suspected colorectal cancer.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Article
- Recognising Colorectal Cancer in Primary Care.Advances in therapy · 2021Article
- Conceptual Framework to Guide Early Diagnosis Programs for Symptomatic Cancer as Part of Global Cancer Control.JCO global oncology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRecently, faecal immunochemical tests (FITs) have been introduced for investigation of primary care patients with low-risk symptoms of colorectal cancer (CRC), but recommendations vary across the world. This systematic review of clinical practice guidelines aimed to determine how FITs are used in symptomatic primary care patients and the underpinning evidence for these guidelines.
methodsMEDLINE, Embase and TRIP databases were systematically searched, from 1 November 2008 to 1 November 2018 for guidelines on the assessment of patients with symptoms suggestive of CRC. Known guideline databases, websites and references of related literature were searched. The following questions were addressed: (i) which countries use FIT for symptomatic primary care patients; (ii) in which populations is FIT used; (iii) what is the cut-off level used for haemoglobin in the faeces (FIT) and (iv) on what evidence are FIT recommendations based.
resultsThe search yielded 2433 publications; 25 covered initial diagnostic assessment of patients with symptoms of CRC in 15 countries (Asia, n = 1; Europe, n = 13; Oceania, n = 4; North America, n = 5; and South America, n = 2). In three countries (Australia, Spain and the UK), FIT was recommended for patients with abdominal symptoms, unexplained weight loss, change in bowel habit or anaemia despite a low level of evidence in the symptomatic primary care patient population.
conclusionsFew countries recommend FITs in symptomatic patients in primary care either because of limited evidence or because symptomatic patients are directly referred to secondary care without triage. These results demonstrate a clear need for research on FIT in the symptomatic primary care population.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.