Colonoscopy Indications and Findings at the Elderly age

Aims Patients aged 75 years and older still need to undergo colonoscopy for different indications.

We aimed to investigate the indications and findings of colonoscopy among people aged 75 and older compared to patients aged 50 to 74.

Methods A large, multi-center, cross-sectional, retrospective study included all colonoscopies performed between 2016 and 2023 in seven endoscopy departments. The indications and findings of the procedures were compared between two age groups.

Results 16,703 subjects aged 75 or older were compared to 244,079 subjects aged 50-74. The average age for the younger group was 60.9±7.1, while the older group averaged 78.3±2.6 years. The cecal intubation rate was slightly lower in the older group (96.5% vs. 98.1%, p<0.001). Indications for colonoscopy varied between the groups: older patients more commonly presented with abdominal pain (11.8% vs. 9.7%), anemia (13.1 vs. 5.4%), polyp follow-up (14.7% vs 8.1%) weight loss (3.6% vs. 1.2%), and constipation (7.3% vs. 2.6%). Regarding findings, older patients had significantly higher rates of diverticulosis (33.3% vs. 17.2%) and colorectal polyps (46.1% vs. 36.4%). Colorectal cancer was more frequently detected in older patients (1.6% vs. 0.5%). Conversely, a normal colonoscopy was more common in the younger group (45.7% vs. 28.3%).

Conclusions The study highlights the distinct clinical presentations and findings across age groups, emphasizing the importance of colonoscopies among elderly people.

Publication History

Article published online:
27 March 2025