Postpolypectomy surveillance guidelines for colorectal cancer introduced the concept of 'risk stratification'; however, few studies have been conducted for validation of its usefulness. The aim of this study was to assess the 5-year incidence of advanced neoplasia recurrence based on the risk stratification scheme of the guidelines and to identify its risk factors. A prospective study of surveillance colonoscopy after screening colonoscopy was carried out at the Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center. 3803 asymptomatic Koreans aged 50-69 were enrolled prospectively and 5-year cumulative adenoma rates were analysed according to three risk groups: normal (no baseline adenoma), low-risk (1-2 adenomas <10 mm) and high-risk (an advanced adenoma or ≥ 3 adenomas) groups. The RR was computed by HR using Cox proportional regression after multivariate adjustments. The primary outcome was the 5-year cumulative rate of recurrent advanced adenoma in each risk category and the secondary outcome was its predictive factors. Among 3803 subjects enrolled between 2003 and 2005, 2452 were followed-up within 5 years: 1242, 671 and 539 in the normal, low-risk and high-risk groups, respectively. Compared with the normal group, the low-risk group had a sufficiently low 5-year incidence and did not show an increased risk for subsequent advanced adenoma (2.4% vs 2.0%, HR=1.14, 95% CI 0.61 to 2.17). Conversely, a significantly higher 5-year rate (12.2%) and early recurrence (4.6, 7.4 and 9.6% at 1, 2 and 3 years) of advanced adenoma were revealed in the high-risk group. Among various patients and adenoma characteristics, only high-risk adenoma (HR=5.95, 95% CI 3.66 to 9.68) along with a number of ≥ 3 (HR=3.06, 95% CI 1.51 to 6.57) and size ≥ 10 mm (HR=3.02, 95% CI 1.80 to 5.06) were independent predictors. The surveillance interval for low-risk patients could be extended beyond 5 years. Colonoscopic surveillance should be targeted to high-risk patients, and 3-year follow-up after initial polypectomy may be appropriate.