Patient Education: Diseases Conditions Treatments & Procedures

FOBT Kit (Fecal Occult Blood Test)

Introduction

With the fecal occult blood test, the individual is given a kit to take home.  The individual then collects several scrapings from their stools and puts these into the kit.  The completed kit is then returned to a laboratory where the samples are tested for microscopic amounts of blood.  If the test is positive, the individual will be advised to undergo a colonoscopy to determine if the cause of bleeding is a colorectal cancer.  If the test is negative, the individual is advised to repeat the test in one to two years.