We are pleased that you have decided to participate in the Svit Programme and thus take care of your health.
Do not change your diet or stop using any medication prescribed by your general practitioner before collecting the stool samples. If you’ve always had a slow digestion but no other special problems, you can buy a mild laxative in your pharmacy before collecting the stool samples. Please do not forget to consult a pharmacist or doctor beforehand.
To help you in the collection of your stool samples, you can watch this video animation:
The kit for stool samples includes:
- Two containers with sticks to collect stool samples – one with brown and one with red serial sticker. The container has a green lid with a stick, which will help you to collect the sample.
- A plastic bag with your name and surname, birth data and two blank fields where you will write the dates when you used the container with the brown sticker and when the one with the red sticker.
- Two folded sheets of special degradable paper to help you keep the stool in the toilet.
- A postage-paid padded envelope with the address of the Svit Programme central laboratory.
Don’t collect the stool samples if:
- You have your period. You can collect both stool samples three days after the end of your period.
- You have diarrhoea. Regulate your digestion first, and then collect both stool samples.
- There is blood in your urine or if you see blood in the toilet after you have urinated. Visit your personal doctor and follow his or her instructions. You can collect the stool samples when there is no more blood in your urine.
- You have bleeding haemorrhoids, which were confirmed by your doctor. You can collect the stool samples when the haemorrhoids are not bleeding anymore (when the doctor determines that the treatment of haemorrhoids has been successfully completed and tells you that you can collect the stool samples).
Collecting the first stool sample
Use one container with a stick to collect one stool sample. You will use the second container with the stick for the second stool sample. It’s not important which colour you use first, but be careful to write the date when you collected the stool sample into the brown container with the brown sticker in the field for the brown container, and the date when you collected the stool sample into the container with the red sticker in the field for the red container.
Procedure
- We recommend that you collect the stool sample during your first daily bowel movement.
- Empty your bladder and flush the toilet.
- Put a sheet of degradable paper, which you have received in the stool sample kit, into the toilet with the side containing the illustrated instructions facing up. The paper will temporarily hold the stool so you can collect the stool sample more easily.
- Empty your bowel
- Take the first container from the bag, unscrew the lid and take out the stick attached to the lid. Don’t squeeze the container and be careful not to spill the liquid!
- Using the stick, scrub the surface of the stool on different places in several directions several times. There are notches at the end of the stick (the same as in screws), which will collect your stool. A very small amount of the sample stool is enough for the analysis!
- Insert the stick with the stool sample back into the container (the central round hole!). Do not repeat the procedure since a very small amount of the stool is needed for the analysis!
- Press the container and the lid together until you hear a click. This is when the container with the sample is closed well enough and the content cannot leak out. Don’t try to open the container anymore!
- Insert the used container with the stool sample into the plastic bag, which you received in the stool sample kit, and close it well at the seal.
- The outside of the bag contains the sticker with your data. Write the date when you collected the sample in the relevant field. If you used the container with the brown serial sticker, enter the date in the field for the brown container, and if you used the container with the red serial sticker, write the date in the field for the red container.
- Keep the bag with used container with the stool sample in a dry and dark place at a temperature between 2°C and 10°C, until you have collected the second stool sample. We recommend you to keep the first sample in the refrigerator, separate from food.
Do not freeze the sample!
- Flush the toilet, leaving the degradable paper in the toilet.
Collecting the second stool sample
Collect the second stool sample during the second bowel movement, but not on the same day as the first sample . There should be a maximum of three days between the first and second sample collection- the second sample must not be collected later than on the fourth day after the first one.
When collecting the second stool sample, repeat all the procedures presented in figures.
Insert both used containers with the samples in a sealed bag into the enclosed padded envelope (Figure 7). Remove the protective tape and carefully seal the envelope. Take the envelope to the nearest post office as soon as possible (not into a post box) and send it to the address of the Svit Programme central laboratory, which is already printed on the envelope. The postage has been prepaid.
Before you seal the padded envelope, please check:
- Did you write both dates of the stool samples collection?
- Are both containers inserted in the plastic bag containing your data?
- Is the bag sealed properly?
We will inform you about the results of the laboratory test within a week after receiving your samples.
Should you have any questions regarding the collection of the stool samples, please consult your general practitioner or pharmacist. You can call the Center SVIT on 01/62 04 521 ,send us an email to svit@nijz.si or a fax to 01/62 04 529. We will be happy to help you with your questions.