Characteristics of included studies
| Study | Country | Design | Number recruiteda | Number eligible | Patients with colorectal cancer, n (%) | Reference standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellentani etal, 199030 | Italy | Prospective consecutive | 254 | 254 | 10(3.9) | Colonoscopy or double-contrast barium enema, follow-up at 2 months |
| Carlsson etal, 200115 | Sweden | Prospective cohort | 379 | 28 | 5 (17.8) | Not reported; several cancers examined |
| du Toit etal, 200612 | UK | Prospective cohort | 265 | 265 | 15(5.7) | Colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy or rigid sigmoidoscopy with barium enema |
| Ellis and Thompson, 200520 | UK | Prospective cohort | 319 | 319 | 11 (3.4) | Colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, barium enema and 18 months’ follow-up |
| Farrus etal, 200013 | Spain | Prospective cohort | 112 | 87 | 2 (2.3) | Colonoscopy |
| Fijten etal, 199521 | Netherlands | Prospective consecutive | 269 | 269 | 9 (3.3) | Colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, X-ray, ultrasonography, follow-up 15-25 months |
| Hamilton et al, 200527 | UK | Matched case-control | 2093 | 2093 | 349(16.7) | Histology or strong clinical evidence |
| Hamilton et al, 200829 | UK | Matched case-control | 13697 | 13 697 | 3183 (23.2) | Not reported in THINb database |
| Hamilton et al, 200928 | UK | Matched case-control | 43791 | 43 791 | 5477 (12.5) | Not reported in THIN database |
| Heintze et al, 200517 | Germany | Prospective cohort | 422 | 422 | 17(4.0); 3 in situ | Colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, ultrasonography |
| Helfand etal, 199714 | USA | Prospective cohort | 297 | 201 | 13 (6.5) | Rigid sigmoidoscopy with biopsy, and double-contrast barium enema, follow-up 6 and 12 months |
| Jones et al, 200718 | UK | Retrospective cohort | 15314 | 15 289 | 338(2.2) | Not reported |
| Lucas etal, 199632 | UK | Retrospective cohort | 130 | 130 | 9(6.9) | Colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, biopsy, barium enema, follow-up 2 years |
| Mant etal, 198922 | Australia | Prospective cohort | 248 | 145 | 15 (10.3) | Histology, colonoscopy, follow-up 15-25 months |
| Metcalf etal, 199623 | UK | Prospective cohort | 119 | 99 | 8(8.1) | Histology, colonoscopy |
| Muris etal, 199331 | Netherlands | Prospective consecutive | 578 | 578 | 3(0.5) | Colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, X-ray, ultrasonography, follow-up 15 months |
| Muris etal, 199516 | Netherlands | Prospective cohort | 933 | 933 | 4 (0.4) | Endoscopy, other confirmatory tests not reported, follow-up at least 1 year |
| Norrelund and Norrelund, 199619 | Denmark | Prospective consecutive | S1 208; S2 209 | 208; 209 | 32(15.4); 25(12.0) | Histology, colonoscopy, barium enema, annual follow-up |
| Panzuto et al, 200311 | Italy | Prospective consecutive | 280 | 280 | 41 (14.6) | Histology, colonoscopy or double-contrast barium enema |
| Robertson et al, 200624 | UK | Prospective cohort | 604 | 604 | 22 (3.6) | Cancer registry, flexible sigmoidoscopy |
| Sanchez et al, 200525 | Spain | Prospective cohort | 126 | 104 | 6(5.8) | Colonoscopy |
| Wauters etal, 200026 | Belgium | Retrospective cohort | 386 | 386 | 27(7.0) | Histology, follow-up 18-30 months |
| Yates etal, 200433 | UK | Prospective randomised | 431 | 431 | 37 (8.6) | Histology |