Application of fecal DNA multi-gene methylation testing in colorectal cancer screening in Haikou City

Table 1 Trend χ² test for participant age groups

Age group	Total cases	Positive cases	Positive rate
40-49 years	1453	57	3.92%
50-59 years	1363	66	4.84%
60-69 years	977	55	5.63%
70-74 years	257	31	12.1%
Total	4050	209	5.16%

Trend χ² test: χ² trend = 19.901, P < 0.01.

Table 2 Univariate analysis of factors associated with positive fecal gene methylation test results in Haikou City (n = 4050)

Variable	Participants, n	Positive cases, n	χ2 value	P value
Gender			21.860	< 0.01
Male	1733	122
Female	2317	87
Age (years)			30.282	< 0.01
40-49	1453	57
50-59	1363	66
60-69	977	55
70-74	257	31
H. pylori infection			13.672	< 0.01
Yes	1382	96
No	2668	113
Preserved food intake			13.31	< 0.01
Frequent	628	51
Infrequent	3422	158
High-salt diet			37.05	< 0.01
Yes	448	50
No	3602	159
Long-term smoking history			8.658	0.03
Yes	589	45
No	3461	164
Excessive alcohol consumption			6.395	0.011
Yes	707	50
No	3343	159
Hypertension			27.538	< 0.01
Yes	597	57
No	3453	152
Diabetes			38.776	< 0.01
Yes	250	34
No	3800	175
Family history			11.826	< 0.01
Yes	384	34
No	3666	175
Excessive consumption of red meat			5.352	0.021
Yes	2146	127
No	1904	82
Consuming too little dietary fiber			12.173	< 0.01
Yes	2380	147
No	1670	62

H. pylori: Helicobacter pylori.

Table 3 Binary logistic regression analysis of factors associated with positive fecal gene methylation test results

Factor	β coefficient	SE	Wald χ2	P value	OR	95%CI
						Lower limit	Upper limit
Smoking	0.518	0.182	8.114	0.004	1.679	1.175	2.398
Drinking alcohol	0.399	0.175	5.221	0.022	1.491	1.058	2.100
Pickled foods	0.603	0.174	11.969	0.001	1.827	1.299	2.570
High-salt diet	0.954	0.179	28.483	0.000	2.596	1.829	3.685
Excessive consumption of red meat	0.312	0.150	4.310	0.038	1.366	1.018	1.834
Insufficient dietary fiber	0.576	0.160	13.008	0.000	1.778	1.301	2.431
Hypertension	0.873	0.169	26.656	0.000	2.393	1.718	3.333
Diabetes	1.254	0.209	35.918	0.000	3.505	2.326	5.282
Family history of colorectal cancer	0.644	0.205	9.862	0.002	1.903	1.274	2.844
HP infection	0.575	0.148	15.063	0.000	1.777	1.329	2.376
Gender	-0.662	0.148	19.865	0.000	0.516	0.386	0.690
Year (≥ 60 years vs < 60 years)	0.514	0.150	11.685	0.001	1.672	1.245	2.245

OR: Odds ratio; CI: Confidence interval.

Table 4 Comparison of Colonoscopy Follow-up Rates Among Participants with Positive Fecal Methylation Test Results

Factor	Positive cases, n	Follow-up cases, n	χ2 value	P value
Gender			4.941	0.026
Female	87	61
Male	122	67
Age group (years)			15.218	0.02
40-49	57	44
50-59	66	44
60-69	55	27
70-74	31	13
Total	209	128

Table 5 Distribution of colonoscopy findings by age and sex

Group	Number of cases	CRC	AA	NAA/polyps	Normal	Detection rate of lesions
Age group
40-49 years old	44	2	8	29	5	88.6%
50-59 years old	44	1	2	32	9	79.5%
60-69 years old	27	1	6	17	3	88.9%
70-74 years old	13	0	3	8	2	84.6%
Gender
Man	67	3	11	42	11	83.6%
Woman	61	1	8	44	8	86.9%

CRC: Colorectal cancer; AA: Advanced adenoma; NAA: Non-advanced adenoma.