Table 3 Characteristics of the Study Population

Age (years), mean (SD)

62.89 ± 7.13

61.96 ± 7.45

63.55 ± 6.71

65.25 ± 6.16

 < 0.001

 40–44

375 (1.1)

275 (1.6)

91 (0.6)

9 (0.3)

 < 0.001

 45–49

1218 (3.6)

835 (5.0)

356 (2.5)

27 (1.0)

 50–54

2818 (8.4)

1716 (10.2)

990 (7.0)

112 (4.3)

 55–59

5732 (17.0)

3124 (18.6)

2306 (16.2)

302 (11.5)

 60–64

7885 (23.4)

3839 (22.8)

3420 (24.1)

626 (23.8)

 65–69

9387 (27.9)

4320 (25.7)

4209 (29.7)

858 (32.6)

 70–74

6237 (18.5)

2718 (16.2)

2822 (19.9)

697 (26.5)

Sex, n (%)

 Male

15,682 (46.6)

6350 (37.7)

7707 (54.3)

1625 (61.8)

 < 0.001

 Female

17,970 (53.4)

10,477 (62.3)

6487 (45.7)

1006 (38.2)

Marital status, n (%)

 Married

32,151 (95.5)

16,047 (95.4)

13,587 (95.7)

2517 (95.7)

0.500

 Unmarried

299 (0.9)

160 (1.0)

114 (0.8)

25 (1.0)

 Divorced

270 (0.8)

150 (0.9)

100 (0.7)

20 (0.8)

 Widowed

857 (2.5)

427 (2.5)

366 (2.6)

64 (2.4)

 Unknown

75 (0.2)

43 (0.3)

27 (0.2)

5 (0.2)

Educational level, n (%)

 Primary school or below

7053 (21.0)

3594 (21.4)

2955 (20.8)

504 (19.2)

0.079

 Middle school

22,359 (66.4)

11,106 (66.0)

9458 (66.6)

1795 (68.2)

 College or above

4084 (12.1)

2037 (12.1)

1727 (12.2)

320 (12.2)

 Unknown

156 (0.5)

90 (0.5)

54 (0.4)

12 (0.5)

Smoking status, n (%)

 Never smoker

25,548 (75.9)

13,731 (81.6)

10,078 (71.0)

1739 (66.1)

 < 0.001

 Former smoker

1608 (4.8)

655 (3.9)

790 (5.6)

163 (6.2)

 Current smoker

6496 (19.3)

2441 (14.5)

3326 (23.4)

729 (27.7)

Alcohol drinking, n (%)

 Never drinker

29,996 (89.1)

15,533 (92.3)

12,280 (86.5)

2183 (83.0)

 < 0.001

 Ever drinker

3656 (10.9)

1294 (7.7)

1914 (13.5)

448 (17.0)

Physical activity, n (%)

 Irregular exercise

18,673 (55.5)

9660 (57.4)

7668 (54.0)

1345 (51.1)

 < 0.001

 Regular exercise

14,979 (44.5)

7167 (42.6)

6526 (46.0)

1286 (48.9)

BMI, n (%)

 < 25

18,953 (56.3)

10,023 (59.6)

7581 (53.4)

1349 (51.3)

 < 0.001

 25–29.9

12,502 (37.2)

5855 (34.8)

5561 (39.2)

1086 (41.3)

 ≥ 30

2197 (6.5)

949 (5.6)

1052 (7.4)

196 (7.4)

Factors for risk stratification, n (%)

 Chronic diarrhoea

7936 (23.6)

4300 (25.6)

3159 (22.3)

477 (18.1)

 < 0.001

 Chronic constipation

7967 (23.7)

4364 (25.9)

3154 (22.2)

449 (17.1)

 < 0.001

 Mucus or bloody stool

5896 (17.5)

3194 (19.0)

2310 (16.3)

392 (14.9)

 < 0.001

 Chronic appendicitis/appendectomy

3025 (9.0)

1568 (9.3)

1286 (9.1)

171 (6.5)

 < 0.001

 Chronic cholecystitis/cholecystectomy

2889 (8.6)

1510 (9.0)

1186 (8.4)

193 (7.3)

0.009

 Psychiatric trauma

2941 (8.7)

1594 (9.5)

1191 (8.4)

156 (5.9)

 < 0.001

 Personal history of any cancer

1388 (4.1)

713 (4.2)

514 (3.6)

161 (6.1)

 < 0.001

 Personal history of colorectal polyps

3504 (10.4)

1271 (7.6)

1978 (13.9)

255 (9.7)

 < 0.001

 Family history of CRC in first degree relatives

3584 (10.7)

1718 (10.2)

1603 (11.3)

263 (10.0)

0.011

 FIT positive

20,310 (60.4)

9944 (59.1)

8497 (59.9)

1869 (71.0)

 < 0.001