Refining Risk Factors for Colorectal Cancer in Patients Presenting with Gastrointestinal Complaints: A Cross-Sectional Study

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent malignancy with a significant mortality rate. The epidemiology of CRC varies in different societies, and there are many risk factors. Information about epidemiological characteristics and factors associated with this cancer among Persian individuals is scarce.

We evaluated the frequency of CRC and its risk factors in patients referring to Shahid Rahimi and Shohada-ye Ashayer hospitals in Khorramabad, Iran, in 2017 - 2020.

This was a descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study on 600 patients with gastrointestinal complaints. A researcher-made checklist was applied to collect the demographic characteristics, including age, gender, educational levels, marital status, and data related to the history of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), smoking status, drug abuse, and family history of CRC. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 21 at a significance level of 0.05.

In this study, 303 out of 600 patients (50.5%) were male, and 297 cases (49.5%) were female. The mean age of the patients was 55.06 ± 20.62 years. There was not a significant relationship between CRC and gender (P = 0.84), age (P = 0.13), history of IBD (P = 0.522), family history of CRC (P = 0.682), educational level (P = 0.37), smoking (P = 0.815), or drug abuse (P = 0.99). However, there was a significant relationship between marital status and CRC (P = 0.049).

Latent genetic disorders and environmental risk factors should be considered in the etiology of CRCs. Evaluation of these factors and precise screening of patients based on standard guidelines is crucial.