Abstract
According to the annual report of Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening in Japan (2011), approximately 70% of individuals with positive screening results underwent diagnostic examination in the population-based colorectal cancer screening, whereas in the workplace-based colorectal cancer screening only approximately 30% of individuals underwent diagnostic examination. To improve compliance with diagnostic examination, we implemented the following strategies: 1) shortened the interval from screening test to diagnostic examination; 2) confirmed whether individuals with positive screening results have undergone diagnostic examinations; 3) encouraged compliance of individuals who did not undergo diagnostic examinations. Between April 1992 and March 2012, a total of 142,437 immunological fecal occult blood tests were performed and 5,180 (3.6%) tests yielded positive results. Of the individuals with positive results, 95.4% underwent diagnostic examinations. Thus, it is suggested that these strategies are effective in improving the compliance with diagnostic examination in the workplace-based colorectal cancer screening. However, to maximize the impact of the intervention, it will be necessary to adopt an organized screening program.
