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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Aug 1.
Published in final edited form as: Cancer Epidemiol. 2011 Nov 22;36(4):395–399. doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2011.10.013

Table 1.

Reasons for inadequate flexible sigmoidoscopy (FSG) screening by depth of insertion a

Baseline FSG b Repeat FSG in 3–5 years c
Reason Depth of insertion, n (%) Depth of insertion, n (%)
< 50 cm ≥ 50 cm < 50 cm ≥ 50 cm
All 6,496 (100) 567 (100) 4509 (100) 506 (100)
Severe ulcerative colitis 1 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 1 (0.0) 0 (0.0)
Participant discomfort 4889 (75.3) 35 (6.2) 3243 (71.9) 32 (6.3)
Severe diverticulosis with unclear lumen 534 (8.2) 17 (3.0) 317 (7.0) 11 (2.2)
Equipment malfunction 20 (0.3) 4 (0.7) 11 (0.2) 3 (0.6)
Poor bowel preparation 1485 (22.9) 500 (88.2) 1290 (28.6) 469 (92.7)
Participant refusal 337 (5.2) 2 (0.4) 232 (5.1) 1 (0.2)
Vasovagal response 99 (1.5) 3 (0.5) 21 (0.5) 3 (0.6)
Palpitations with tachycardia 3 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0).
a

Reasons for inadequate examinations were not mutually exclusive

b

At baseline, depth of insertion was missing for 21 participants. The specific reason for inadequate FSG designation for 6 participants with depth of insertion of 50 cm or more was missing.

c

At repeat FSG, depth of insertion of the flexible sigmoidoscope was missing for 6 participants