title: Association between positive fecal occult blood test and diabetes in a population undergoing health screening.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Numerous etiologies are implicated in the complications of diabetes. A link between diabetes and the predisposition to certain cancers, including colon cancer, has been established during the last decade. However, the relationship between fecal occult blood test (FOBT), a screening method used principally for detection of colon cancer, and diabetes has not been explored.
  
  
  METHODS
  We investigated the association of positive FOBT with HbA1c of 5.70-6.49% (prediabetes) and HbA1c of ≥6.5% (diabetes) during health screening of 12,836 Japanese people aged 30-79years (9258 men and 3578 women).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age and HbA1c were significantly higher in the positive (n=1502) than the negative FOBT groups (n=11,334). There were fewer men and current smokers in the positive FOBT group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that, compared with HbA1c of ≤5.69%, HbA1c of ≥6.5% was significantly associated with positive FOBT, independently of relevant confounders including age, sex, and past history of gastric/duodenal ulcers and colon cancer or polyp.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current results support a predisposition towards gastrointestinal cancer in diabetics, or may imply the development of diabetes-related gut microangiopathy, which deserves further study including FOBT and clinical diagnosis of the gut.
authors.affiliation: School of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health and Social Services, Kanagawa University of Human Services, 1-10-1 Heisei-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 238-8522, Japan; Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Saitama Medical Center, Saitama Medical University, 1981 Kamoda, Kawagoe, Saitama 350-8550, Japan. Electronic address: nakajima-rsh@kuhs.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.affiliation: Saitama Health Promotion Corporation, 410-1 Ewai, Yoshimimachi, Hikigun, Saitama, 355-0133, Japan. Electronic address: suwa@saitama-kenkou.or.jp.
authors.forename: Kaname
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suwa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000379:methods; D005243:Feces; D005260:Female; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009780:Occult Blood
chemical_list: D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human
keywords: Cancer; Complication; Diabetes; Fecal occult blood test; HbA1c; Microangiopathy