Representation of Racial Minorities in the United States Colonoscopy Surveillance Interval Guidelines

Clinical guidelines should ideally be formulated from data representative of the population they are applicable to; however, historically, studies have disproportionally enrolled non-Hispanic White (NHW) patients, leading to potential inequities in care for minority groups. Our study aims to evaluate the extent to which racial minorities were represented in the United States Colorectal Cancer Surveillance Guidelines.

We reviewed US guidelines between 1997 and 2020 and all identified studies cited by recommendations for surveillance after a baseline colonoscopy with no polyps, adenomas, sessile serrated polyps, and hyperplastic polyps. We analyzed the proportion of studies reporting race, and among these studies, we calculated the racial distribution of patients and compared the proportion of Non-NHW patients between each subtype.

For all guidelines, we reviewed 75 studies encompassing 9,309,955 patients. Race was reported in 24% of studies and 14% of total patients. Non-NHW comprised 43% of patients in studies for normal colonoscopies, compared with 9% for adenomas, 22% for sessile serrated polyps, and 15% for hyperplastic polyps. For the 2020 guidelines, we reviewed 33 studies encompassing 5,930,722 patients. Race was reported in 15% of studies and 21% of total patients. Non-NHW comprised 43% of patients in studies for normal colonoscopies, compared with 9% for tubular adenomas. Race was not cited for any other 2020 guideline.

Racial minorities are significantly underrepresented in US Colorectal Cancer Surveillance Guidelines, which may contribute to disparities in care. Future studies should prioritize enrolling a diverse patient population to provide data that accurately reflects their population.