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Blood in the stool is associated with an increased risk of dying from circulatory, respiratory, digestive, blood, hormone and neuropsychological diseases, and cancer. Faecal occult blood test FOBT, is used to detect unseen blood in the stool. Previous research has indicated that stool blood might predict life expectancy, independent of its association with bowel cancer.
The researchers drew on linked prescribing, bowel cancer screening, and death registry data for nearly 134,000 people in Tayside, Scotland, from March 2000 to the end of March 2016. In all, 131,207 people, aged between 50 and 74, tested negative for unseen stool blood and 2714 (just over 2%) tested positive during this period. Their survival was tracked from the date of this first test until death or the end of March 2016, whichever came first.
Older age, increasing levels of deprivation, and male gender were associated with a greater likelihood of a positive test result. Prescriptions for aspirin or other drugs that boost the risk of digestive tract bleeds were also more likely to be associated with a positive test result. Those who had a positive FOBT result may die of bowel cancer as those who tested negative, after taking account of gender, age, deprivation, and drug treatment.
A positive FOBT result was also associated with a 58 percent heightened risk of death from all causes other than bowel cancer. It was associated with a significantly greater risk of death from circulatory, respiratory, digestive tract, neuropsychological, blood and hormone diseases, as well as other types of cancer, after taking account of potentially influential factors. A positive FOBT result may call for bowel cancer screening.