title: Value of fecal occult blood test as a screening test before capsule endoscopy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The primary aim was to assess the value of immunochemical and guaiac fecal occult blood test (FOBT) as a screening test before capsule endoscopy (CE) in the setting of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB).
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective study from the St Vincent's Hospital, a tertiary referral hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Sixty-eight patients referred for CE to investigate OGIB underwent two immunochemical/guaiac FOBTs within 2 weeks preceding CE. The correlation between a positive FOBT before CE and clinically significant findings (CSFs) on CE was assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty of 68 (44%) patients with OGIB had significant findings on CE. The accuracy of a combined immunochemical and guaiac FOBT for predicting clinically significant findings on CE was 62% [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.50-0.72]. The sensitivity and specificity were low at 63% (95% CI: 0.50-0.75) and 61% (95% CI: 0.50-0.70), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FOBT has low accuracy as a screening test before CE and thus cannot be recommended for this purpose.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. mariosefthymiou@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Marios
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Efthymiou
authors.forename: Patrick B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: Chatura
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jayasekera
authors.forename: Paul V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Andrew C F
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016888:Angiodysplasia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D053704:Capsule Endoscopy; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005260:Female; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D006138:Guaiac; D006801:Humans; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009780:Occult Blood
chemical_list: D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D006138:Guaiac