0000000000040234
AUTHOR
Teppo Huttunen
Improving uptake of screening for colorectal cancer: a study on invitation strategies and different test kit use
Objective The aim of this study was to compare the uptake of mail-delivered tests for colorectal cancer screening. We assessed the effect of an advance notification letter and a reminder letter, and analysed the proportion of inappropriately handled tests. Materials and methods Fifteen thousand randomly selected residents of Latvia aged 50–74 years were allocated to receive one of three different test systems: either a guaiac faecal occult blood test (gFOBT) or one of two laboratory-based immunochemical tests (FIT) – FOB Gold or OC-Sensor. Half of the target population received an advance notification letter; all nonresponders were sent a reminder letter. Results The uptake of screening was…
Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection and atrophic gastritis in Latvia.
Helicobacter pylori infection and atrophic gastritis are related to an increased risk for gastric cancer. There is a decrease in global H. pylori prevalence. We analyzed the prevalence of H. pylori infection in Latvia by the plasma IgG test and the presence of atrophy by means of pepsinogen testing.This subanalysis was carried out on a randomly selected cross-sectional sample of a general population of adults to access cardiovascular risk factors. Plasma samples were screened for H. pylori IgG (cutoff value 24 U/ml), and pepsinogens (Pg) I and II. Pg cutoff values of PgI/PgII ≤ 3 and PgI ≤ 70 ng/ml were used to assess the prevalence of atrophy of any grade and PgI/PgII ≤ 2 and PgI ≤ 30 ng/m…