Appropriateness of indication and diagnostic yield of colonoscopy: First report based on the 2000 guidelines of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Table 5 Appropriateness of indication and diagnostic yield of colonoscopy according to patients’ characteristics

Characteristic (no. of patients)	Appropriateness of referral1n (%)			Diagnostic yield (%)
	Generally indicated	Generally not indicated	Not listed
All patients (736)	468 (63.6)	149 (20.2)	119 (16.2)	27.2
Diagnostic yield	37.80%	4.70%	13.40%	-
Gender
Male (415)	263(63.4)	87 (21.0)	65 (15.7)	28
Female (321)	205 (63.9)	62 (19.3)	54 (16.8)	26.2
Age (yr)
Mean age (SD)	44.7 (17.3)	38.2 (12.1)	46.3 (17.3)
<15 (31)	24 (77.4)	2 (6.5)	5 (16.1)	48.4
15-49 (441)	247 (56.0)	130 (29.5)	64 (14.5)	22.2
≥50 (264)	197 (74.6)	17 (6.4)	50 (18.9)	33
Referring clinician
General physician (255)	154 (60.4)	63 (24.7)	38 (14.9)	18
Surgeon (246)	153 (62.2)	34 (13.8)	59 (24.0)	27.6
Gastroenterologist (205)	137 (66.8)	49 (23.9)	19 (9.3)	36.6
Pediatric gastroenterologist (22)	18 (81.8)	1 (4.5)	3 (13.6)	50
Other2 (8)	6 (75.0)	2 (25.0)	0	0
Clinical status
Inpatient (130)	89 (68.5)	19 (14.6)	22 (16.9)	35.4
Outpatient (606)	379 (62.5)	130 (21.5)	97 (16.0)	25.4

¹According to 2000 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) guidelines on appropriate use of gastrointestinal endoscopy[9].

²Oncologist (6), gynecologist (2).