Cure8 research brief
Fecal calprotectin is a noninvasive test that can help triage patients with lower GI symptoms toward or away from gastroenterology referral for suspected IBD.
Understanding how FC is used in primary care and how results relate to diagnosis can help patients and clinicians make better-informed decisions about testing and referrals.
Primary-care clinicians, gastroenterologists, adult patients with new lower-GI symptoms, and health services researchers or planners
The study included adults aged 18–60 with lower GI symptoms from 2015–2023 and found FC testing increased over time but remained used in a minority of symptomatic patients (4.2% overall).
Higher FC levels (>250 µg/g) were associated with a substantially higher proportion diagnosed with IBD after gastroenterology referral compared with intermediate (100–250 µg/g) or low/normal (<100 µg/g) results.
Despite normal FC results, a quarter of tested symptomatic patients were still referred to secondary care; very few of those had IBD but a small number had colorectal cancer.
This is a retrospective observational study using English primary-care records (2015–2023). It reports associations between FC testing and later referral/diagnosis; it does not establish causal effects of testing on outcomes. The cohort was limited to adults 18–60 and findings may not apply to older adults or different healthcare settings.
Review the original publication for the complete reporting, methods, and context.
This Cure8 brief is based on source text from the linked article. Cure8 is informational only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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