Table 2.

Frequency of occurrence of diagnostic and procedure codes in provincial administrative databases (N = 1,230)

Diagnostic or procedure codes	Na	%
Procedures in the past 4 years
Colonoscopy	267	21.7
Sigmoidoscopy	76	6.2
Polypectomy	114	9.3
Double contrast barium enema	65	5.3
Symptoms in the past year
Rectal bleeding	95	7.7
Diarrhea	50	4.1
Vomiting	7	0.6
Weight loss	8	0.7
Anemia	86	7
Gastrointestinal conditions in the past 5 years
Colorectal cancer	65	5.3
Colorectal polyps	205	16.7
Inflammatory bowel disease	48	3.9
Hospitalizations in the past 5 years
Large bowel diseases	32	2.6
Large bowel surgery	26	2.1

^a Number of patients whose health administrative records contain the relevant diagnostic or procedure code(s). Specific codes are listed in Additional file 1.