Background
Methods
Design and data collection
Included variables
Register data
Ethical considerations
Statistical analyses
Results
Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents
Cancer Agree % (n) | Total (n) | Benign somatic causes Agree % (n) | Total (n) | Psycho-logical causes Agree % (n) | Total (n) | Lifestyle related cause Agree % (n) | Total (n) | Causes beyond individual control Agree % (n) | Total (n) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gender
| ||||||||||
Male | 33.1 (80) | 242 | 58.6 (137) | 234 |
30.3 (73)
| 241 | 33.9 (81) | 239 | 55.5 (132) | 238 |
Female | 26.2 (50) | 191 | 59.7 (109) | 183 |
42.6 (81)
| 190 | 30.0 (56) | 187 | 59.5 (110) | 185 |
Age
| ||||||||||
≤64 | 28.1 (43) | 153 |
68.7 (103)
| 150 |
41.8 (64)
| 153 |
39.1 (59)
| 151 | 54.7 (82) | 150 |
65+ | 31.1 (87) | 280 |
53.6 (143)
| 267 |
32.4 (90)
| 278 |
28.9 (78)
| 275 | 58.6 (160) | 273 |
Marital status
| ||||||||||
Married/coh. | 29.1 (87) | 299 | 58.7 (169) | 288 | 32.9 (98) | 298 | 30.0 (88) | 293 | 58.2 (171) | 294 |
Living alone | 32.1 (43) | 134 | 59.7 (77) | 129 | 42.1 (56) | 133 | 36.8 (49) | 133 | 55.0 (71) | 129 |
Education
| ||||||||||
Short | 28.6 (42) | 147 |
46.8 (66)
| 141 |
43.2 (63)
| 146 | 35.2 (51) | 145 | 61.5 (88) | 143 |
Middle | 31.3 (62) | 198 |
67.0 (126)
| 188 |
33.5 (66)
| 197 | 29.0 (58) | 193 | 57.7 (112) | 194 |
High | 28.6 (22) | 77 |
63.6 (49)
| 77 |
26.0 (20)
| 77 | 35.1 (27) | 77 | 48.0 (36) | 75 |
Cancer type
| ||||||||||
Colon | 28.6 (79) | 276 |
51.1 (135)
| 264 | 37.8 (104) | 275 | 32.8 (89) | 271 | 58.9 (159) | 270 |
Rectal | 31.6 (42) | 133 |
72.1 (93)
| 129 | 31.8 (42) | 132 | 31.3 (41) | 131 | 53.5 (69) | 129 |
Blood in stool
| ||||||||||
Yes |
44.1 (63)
| 143 |
71.9 (100)
| 139 | 32.2 (46) | 143 | 26.2 (37) | 141 | 60.0 (84) | 140 |
No |
23.1 (67)
| 290 |
52.5 (146)
| 278 | 37.5 (108) | 288 | 35.1 (100) | 285 | 55.8 (158) | 283 |
Abdominal pain
| ||||||||||
Yes | 22.9 (16) | 70 |
43.1 (28)
| 65 | 41.4 (29) | 70 |
42.9 (30)
| 70 | 55.9 (38) | 68 |
No | 31.4 (114) | 363 |
61.9 (218)
| 352 | 34.6 (125) | 361 |
30.1 (107)
| 356 | 57.5 (204) | 355 |
Change in bowel habits
| ||||||||||
Yes | 26.4 (33) | 125 | 63.4 (78) | 123 | 36.0 (45) | 125 | 36.3 (45) | 124 | 55.7 (68) | 122 |
No | 31.5 (97) | 308 | 57.1 (168) | 294 | 35.6 (109) | 306 | 30.5 (92) | 302 | 57.8 (174) | 301 |
Other symptoms
a
| ||||||||||
Yes |
19.0 (18)
| 95 |
44.4 (40)
| 90 | 36.6 (34) | 93 | 27.5 (25) | 91 | 55.9 (52) | 93 |
No |
33.1 (112)
| 338 |
63.0 (206)
| 327 | 35.5 (120) | 338 | 33.4 (112) | 335 | 57.6 (190) | 330 |
Most important symptom and attributed causes
Cancer | Benign somatic causes | Psychological causes | Lifestyle-related causes | Causes beyond individual control | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unadjusted | Adjusted | Unadjusted | Adjusted | Unadjusted | Adjusted | Unadjusted | Adjusted | Unadjusted | Adjusted | |
Blood in stool | ||||||||||
No | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Yes |
1.91 (1.44–2.52)
|
1.94 (1.46–2.58)
|
1.37 (1.18–1.60)
|
1.36 (1.05–1.76)
| 0.86 (0.65–1.14) | 0.89 (0.68–1.18) | 0.75 (0.54–1.03) | 0.76 (0.52–1.11) | 1.07 (0.91–1.27) | 1.10 (0.93–1.30) |
Abdominal pain | ||||||||||
No | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Yes | 0.73 (0.46–1.15) | 0.76 (0.48–1.20) |
0.70 (0.52–0.93)
| 0.65 (0.44–0.97) | 1.20 (0.88–1.64) | 1.06 (0.70–1.61) |
1.43 (1.04–1.95)
| 1.26 (0.83–1.92) | 0.97 (0.77–1.22) | 0.97 (0.77–1.22) |
Change in bowel habits | ||||||||||
No | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Yes | 0.84 (0.60–1.17) | 0.80 (0.57–1.13) | 1.11 (0.94–1.31) | 1.10 (0.87–1.45) | 1.01 (0.77–1.33) | 1.02 (0.72–1.46) | 1.19 (0.89–1.59) | 1.24 (0.86–1.78) | 0.96 (0.80–1.16) | 0.96 (0.80–1.16) |
Other symptomsb | ||||||||||
No | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Yes |
0.57 (0.37–0.89)
|
0.54 (0.33–0.86)
|
0.71 (0.55–0.90)
| 0.75 (0.53–1.05) | 1.03 (0.76–1.40) | 1.05 (0.71–1.56) | 0.82 (0.57–1.19) | 0.86 (0.54–1.35) | 0.97 (0.79–1.19) | 0.94 (0.76–1.16) |
Socio-demographic characteristics and causes attributed to the symptom
Cancer | Benign somatic causes | Psychological causes | Lifestyle-related causes | Causes beyond individual control | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unadjusted | Adjusted | Unadjusted | Adjusted | Unadjusted | Adjusted | Unadjusted | Adjusted | Unadjusted | Adjusted | |
Gender | ||||||||||
Male | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Female | 0.79 (0.59–1.07) | 0.79 (0.80–1.51) | 1.02 (0.87–1.19) | 1.03 (0.79–1.33) |
1.41 (1.09–1.81)
| 1.34 (0.95–1.84) | 0.88 (0.67–1.17) | 0.79 (0.56–1.13) | 1.07 (0.91–1.26) | 1.07 (0.82–1.39) |
Age | ||||||||||
≤64 | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
65+ | 1.11 (0.81–1.50) | 1.10 (0.80–1.51) |
0.78 (0.68–0.91)
| 0.82 (0.63–1.06) |
0.77 (0.60–1.00)
|
0.70 (0.50–0.98)
|
0.73 (0.55–0.95)
|
0.67 (0.47–0.95)
| 1.07 (0.90–1.28) | 1.04 (0.79–1.37) |
Marital status | ||||||||||
Married/cohabiting | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Living alone | 1.10 (0.81–1.49) | 1.16 (0.84–1.59) | 1.02 (0.86–1.21) | 1.05 (0.79–1.39) | 1.28 (0.99–1.66) | 1.17 (0.83–1.65) | 1.23 (0.92–1.63) | 1.27 (0.88–1.83) | 0.95 (0.79–1.14) | 0.90 (0.67–1.21) |
Education | ||||||||||
Low | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Middle | 1.10 (0.79–1.52) | 1.09 (0.78–1.52) |
1.43 (1.17–1.75)
|
1.39 (1.03–1.89)
| 0.78 (0.59–1.02) | 0.76 (0.54–1.09) | 0.82 (0.60–1.13) | 0.77 (0.52–1.13) | 0.94 (0.79–1.12) | 0.94 (0.70–1.25) |
High | 1.00 (0.65–1.55) | 1.01 (0.65–1.57) |
1.36 (1.07–1.73)
| 1.30 (0.89–1.90) |
0.60 (0.40–0.92)
|
0.57 (0.34–0.96)
| 1.00 (0.68–1.45) | 0.91 (0.56–1.47) | 0.78 (0.60–1.02) | 0.780 (0.53–1.16) |
Cancer site | ||||||||||
Colon | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Rectal | 1.10 (0.81–1.51) | 1.05 (0.76–1.46) |
1.41 (1.20–1.65)
|
1.34 (1.02–1.77)
| 0.84 (0.63–1.13) | 0.83 (0.57–1.21) | 0.95 (0.70–1.29) | 0.84 (0.58–1.24) | 0.91 (0.75–1.10) | 0.92 (0.68–1.24) |
Symptom attributions and patient interval
Prevalence ratio for having a long patient interval (i.e. ≥ 88 days) | ||
---|---|---|
Unadjusted | Adjusted | |
Cancer | ||
Disagree | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Agree | 0.76 (0.51–1.13) | 0.77 (0.51–1.15) |
Benign somatic causes | ||
Disagree | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Agree | 1.40 (0.96–2.03) | 1.40 (0.95–2.06) |
Psychological causes | ||
Disagree | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Agree | 1.23 (0.87–1.74) | 1.25 (0.88–1.79) |
Lifestyle-related causes | ||
Disagree | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Agree | 1.20 (0.84–1.71) | 1.11 (0.77–1.59) |
Causes beyond individual control | ||
Disagree | 1 (ref.) | 1 (ref.) |
Agree | 0.99 (0.70–1.41) | 1.02 (0.72–1.45) |