Article
Open Access
Volume 5 · Issue 2 · 2025
pp. 39–47
Assessment of Disease Activity Using Fecal Occult Blood Test in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Rumeysa Çolak1, Ozan Cengiz2, Muhammet Özer3, Hale Akpınar4
1
Department of Medical Oncology, University of Health Sciences, Mehmet Akif Inan Training and Research Hospital, Şanlıurfa, Türkiye
2
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Uşak Training and Research Hospital, Uşak, Türkiye
3
Department of Medical Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
4
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Türkiye
Abstract
Objectives: Assessment of disease activity is essential for treatment and follow-up in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Colonoscopy is the gold standard but it is invasive and costly for frequent monitoring. Therefore, simple and non-invasive biomarkers are needed. To evaluate fecal occult blood (FOB) testing in assessing disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD).
Methods: A total of 115 patients (56 UC, 59 CD) were included. Clinical activity was assessed using the Modified Mayo Score for UC and the Harvey–Bradshaw Index for CD. FOB testing was performed in all patients and endoscopic activity was evaluated in 59 patients. Associations between FOB test and disease activity were analyzed.
Results: Clinically active disease was present in 30.4% of UC and 25.4% of CD patients. FOB positivity was significantly associated with clinical activity in UC (p=0.009), but not in CD (p=0.109). In UC, FOB showed 88.2% sensitivity and 48.7% specificity for detecting clinical activity and was also associated with endoscopic activity (p=0.031). No significant association was observed in CD.
Conclusion: FOB testing may represent a simple, inexpensive, and non-invasive tool for assessing disease activity in UC, but appears limited in CD.
Methods: A total of 115 patients (56 UC, 59 CD) were included. Clinical activity was assessed using the Modified Mayo Score for UC and the Harvey–Bradshaw Index for CD. FOB testing was performed in all patients and endoscopic activity was evaluated in 59 patients. Associations between FOB test and disease activity were analyzed.
Results: Clinically active disease was present in 30.4% of UC and 25.4% of CD patients. FOB positivity was significantly associated with clinical activity in UC (p=0.009), but not in CD (p=0.109). In UC, FOB showed 88.2% sensitivity and 48.7% specificity for detecting clinical activity and was also associated with endoscopic activity (p=0.031). No significant association was observed in CD.
Conclusion: FOB testing may represent a simple, inexpensive, and non-invasive tool for assessing disease activity in UC, but appears limited in CD.
Keywords: Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Fecal Occult Blood Test, Colitis, Ulcerative, Crohn Disease
