Body mass index as a predictor of colorectal neoplasia in ethnically diverse screening population.
BACKGROUND
Recent guidelines from the American College of Gastroenterology for screening for colorectal cancer have included obesity as an important risk factor. The recommendation for screening obese people at earlier age was tempered by the need for more data regarding obesity and colorectal neoplasia.


OBJECTIVE
We designed a cross-sectional study to further examine the predictive value of obesity for colorectal adenomas in asymptomatic patients.


METHODS
We prospectively collected demographic, medical, lifestyle, and dietary history from asymptomatic patients presenting for screening colonoscopy. Patients underwent complete colonoscopy using high-definition colonoscope to detect colorectal adenomas. We defined advanced neoplasia as large (≥ 1 cm) adenoma, villous adenoma, high-grade dysplasia or cancer.


RESULTS
Six hundred patients with median age of 56 years completed the study. Over 40% of these patients did not consider themselves Caucasian, and less than 5% had a first-degree relative with colorectal cancer. Overall, 40 patients (6.7%) had advanced neoplasia and 216 (36.3%) had any adenoma. There were 185 obese patients (30.8%), who had a prevalence of 44.3% for any adenoma and 13.0% for advanced neoplasia. After multivariate analysis, obesity [body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m(2)] was significantly associated with increased risk of advanced neoplasia [odds ratio (OR) = 3.83; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.94-7.55].


CONCLUSIONS
Obesity was associated with advanced neoplasia in this screening population. Our data regarding the association of colorectal neoplasia with this modifiable risk factor has implications for screening and prevention of colorectal cancer.
Stein
Benjamin
B
Division of Gastroenterology-Hepatology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
Anderson
Joseph C
JC
Rajapakse
Ramona
R
Alpern
Zvi A
ZA
Messina
Catherine R
CR
Walker
Grace
G
D000236:Adenoma / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003113:Colonoscopy; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data