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Ambient temperature and FIT performance in the Emilia-Romagna colorectal cancer screening programme
Gianfranco De Girolamo1, Carlo A Goldoni2, Rossella Corradini3
1Azienda Usl di Modena, Department of Public Health, Unit of Epidemiology and Risk communication, Modena, Italy g.degirolamo@ausl.mo.it.
Journal of Medical Screening
|April 30, 2016
Summary
Higher ambient temperatures reduce the accuracy of faecal immunochemical tests (FIT) used in colorectal cancer screening. This impacts the positive rate and detection of cancers and adenomas, necessitating careful temperature monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Public Health
- Clinical Chemistry
Background:
- Colorectal cancer screening programs rely on accurate diagnostic tests.
- Faecal immunochemical test (FIT) performance can be influenced by environmental factors.
- Understanding temperature effects on FIT is crucial for optimizing screening program efficiency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of ambient temperature on the performance of FIT in colorectal cancer screening.
- To analyze how temperature variations affect key FIT performance metrics.
Main Methods:
- A population-based retrospective cohort study analyzing over 1.5 million FIT results from 2005-2011.
- Poisson regression models were used to assess the relationship between ambient temperature and FIT outcomes.
- Factors including gender, age, screening history, and local health unit were controlled for.
Main Results:
- Increasing ambient temperature showed a linear decrease in the positive rate of FIT.
- Advanced adenoma detection rates also decreased linearly with higher temperatures.
- Cancer detection rates were affected by temperature, with a notable decrease at higher temperatures (≥25℃).
Conclusions:
- Ambient temperature significantly impacts FIT performance in colorectal cancer screening.
- Monitoring temperature is essential, especially with new FIT tube buffers designed for improved haemoglobin stability.
- Further verification is needed to confirm the stability of newer FIT technologies across temperature ranges.
