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Lookup NU author(s): Adam BiranORCiD, Dr Christina DobsonORCiD, Professor Colin Rees, Dr Laura Neilson, Professor Linda SharpORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2025 BMJ Publishing Group. All rights reserved.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.
Author(s): Biran A, Dobson C, Rees CJ, Hamilton W, Humes D, Neilson LJ, Turvill J, Von Wagner C, Whelpton J, Sharp L
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: BMJ Open
Year: 2025
Volume: 15
Issue: 5
Online publication date: 16/05/2025
Acceptance date: 30/04/2025
Date deposited: 02/06/2025
ISSN (electronic): 2044-6055
Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
URL: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-093215
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-093215
Data Access Statement: 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
PubMed id: 40379318
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