Time to Endoscopy in Patients with Colorectal Cancer: Analysis of Wait-Times

Table 2

Calculated wait-times (mean, median, and range) for office visits and procedures for included subjects for several time periods from initial referral to the PGA office through to surgery by a colorectal surgeon. Subjects were excluded from the calculations if they were not referred to a surgeon or if they declined surgery. Subjects were also excluded from the time to surgery calculations if they had preoperative radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Subjects waited a mean of 63 days to see a GI and 94 days for their first endoscopy procedure. The subset of subjects who had alarm signs or symptoms (BRBPR, anemia, positive FIT/FOBT, or change in bowel habits) at the time of referral waited a mean of 86 days for endoscopy. Total wait-time from referral through to surgery was a mean of 146 days.

Time period		Wait-time in days
		Mean	Median	(Range)
Referral to GI office visit	246	63	49	(0–422)
Referral to first endoscopy	246	94	76	(1–428)
Referral to first endoscopy in subjects with symptoms	225	86	70	(1–428)
Endoscopy to office visit with surgeon	221	19	13	(0–221)
Office visit with surgeon to surgery	179	29	24	(0–187)
Total wait-time: referral to surgery	191	146	123	(8–500)

GI: gastroenterologist.