RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Patient experiences and expectations of faecal immunochemical testing for investigation of colorectal cancer symptoms: a cross-sectional qualitative interview study with patients and practitioners in the UK
JF BMJ Open
JO BMJ Open
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP e093215
DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-093215
VO 15
IS 5
A1 Biran, Adam
A1 Dobson, Christina
A1 Rees, Colin J
A1 Hamilton, Willie
A1 Humes, David
A1 Neilson, Laura Jane
A1 Turvill, James
A1 von Wagner, Christian
A1 Whelpton, John
A1 Sharp, Linda
YR 2025
UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/5/e093215.abstract
AB Objectives Faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) is now commonplace in the UK to prioritise symptomatic patients for urgent gastrointestinal investigation. The test requires a stool sample to be collected at home by the patient and returned for analysis. In this qualitative study, we sought to understand the feasibility and acceptability of FIT-based triage for patients.Design A cross-sectional, qualitative, experiential interview study.Setting Recruitment was through three participating UK NHS sites (Yorkshire, Midlands, North-East). Health professionals were also identified through membership of the BSG/ACPGBI Symptomatic FIT Guideline Development Group and snowball sampling.Participants We interviewed 21 patients who had completed FIT and been referred for colonoscopy and 30 primary and secondary care health professionals involved in symptomatic FIT delivery.Results Completion of FIT was unproblematic from the perspective of patients who returned the test. However, health professionals expressed concern over non-return. Among patients, understanding of the purpose of FIT and the meaning of results varied. Health professionals acknowledged that ensuring patient understanding of these can be challenging. Patients believed colonoscopy was less likely to miss cancer than FIT. Patients with a family or personal history of cancer were particularly anxious and wanted the reassurance of colonoscopy, even with a negative FIT result.Conclusions We found no major barriers to the use of FIT in prioritising symptomatic patients for urgent investigation. Improving communication might increase compliance and, possibly, acceptability of non-referral for colonoscopy in the case of a negative test result.Data are available upon reasonable request. The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request as a pseudonymised dataset.