title: Flexible sigmoidoscopy as a screening procedure in rural patients.
abstract: In this study of flexible sigmoidoscopy as a screening procedure for rural, impoverished patients, 16% of asymptomatic patients who were screened by sigmoidoscopy and 23% of patients with a positive test for fecal occult blood were found to have a polyp or carcinoma. Flexible sigmoidoscopy appears to be an important part of the physical examination of patients older than 50. It is a test that can readily be done by primary care physicians in a rural setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa 35487-0326.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lindberg
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000517:prevention & control; D000236:Adenoma / Q000517:prevention & control; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003111:Colonic Polyps / Q000517:prevention & control; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012423:Rural Health; D020694:Sigmoidoscopes