Impact of colonoscopy on patients older than 75.
e15096 Background: Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States. As per current screening guidelines, screening should begin by age 50 and be continued till age 75. Routine screening over 75 years is not recommended. Methods: Our primary objective was to compare survival time in patients undergoing colonoscopy aged 75 years or older to those aged 50-74. The study was conducted at Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC), North Chicago, United States between 2002 and 2012. A retrospective chart review was performed for patients who underwent colonoscopy. Mortality in terms of survival time was compared between patients equal or older than 75 versus those aged 50-74 years with similar procedural indications and life expectancy of 5 years or more. Survival analysis was performed via Kaplan Meier curve with log-rank test. Results: A total of 213 patients were included in the study . Fifty one percent of the patients (108) were 50-74 years old (young age group), while 49% (105) were 75 or older (old age group). Patients had colonoscopy done for following indications: 92 (43%) screening colonoscopy, 62 (29.1%) diagnostic colonoscopy and 59 (27.7%) surveillance colonoscopy. There was no statistical difference between the age groups based on indication of colonoscopy (P = 0.899). Overall mean survival time for all patients was 123.6 months (10.3 years). Survival time was significantly higher for young age group with a mean overall survival of 131.1 months (10.9 years). Older age group had a mean overall survival time of 106.9 months (8.9 years). P-value = 0.009. The highest overall mean survival time was observed in patients who were under 75 and had colonoscopy for screening purposes 138.9 months (11.6 years) (P = 0.019). The lowest overall mean survival time was seen in those who were > 75 years and had colonoscopy due to diagnostic purposes 93.6 months(7.8 years). (P = 0.055) Conclusions: Although statistically significant higher survival time was noted in patients younger than 75, older patients also had a survival time of more than 7 years. This will impact the decision to offer screening colonoscopy to older people who will definitely benefit from the test.