Table 1. Comparison of characteristics of the studied patients with lung cancer by diagnostic route (N = 4473).
| Variable | Emergency diagnosis ( n = 1491, 33%), n (%)a | Routine referral ( n = 1026, 23%), n (%)a | Urgent referral ( n = 1259, 28%), n (%)a | Other (n = 697, 16%),n (%)a,b | P-value c |
| Age at diagnosis, years | <0.001 | ||||
| Mean (SD) | 75 (11) | 72 (10) | 71 (10) | 72 (11) | |
| Median (IQR), range | 76 (68–84), 32–99 | 73 (65–80), 39–96 | 71 (63–78), 36–97 | 72 (65–79), 38–98 | |
| Age at diagnosis, years | <0.001 | ||||
| 30–64 | 258 (17) | 235 (23) | 343 (27) | 172 (25) | |
| 65–74 | 391 (26) | 360 (35) | 441 (35) | 231 (33) | |
| 75–84 | 508 (34) | 334 (33) | 363 (29) | 220 (32) | |
| 85–99 | 334 (22) | 97 (9) | 112 (9) | 74 (11) | |
| Stage of cancer at diagnosis | <0.001 | ||||
| Advanced | 785 (53) | 473 (46) | 695 (55) | 289 (41) | |
| Not advanced | 106 (7) | 210 (20) | 214 (17) | 142 (20) | |
| Unknown | 600 (40) | 343 (33) | 350 (28) | 266 (38) | |
| Gender | 0.130 | ||||
| Female | 722 (48) | 470 (46) | 558 (44) | 337 (48) | |
| Male | 769 (52) | 556 (54) | 701 (56) | 360 (52) | |
| Ethnicity | <0.001 | ||||
| White | 1388 (93) | 962 (94) | 1198 (95) | 618 (89) | |
| Any other ethnicity | 81 (5) | 45 (4) | 48 (4) | 45 (6) | |
| Unknown | 22 (1) | 19 (2) | 13 (1) | 34 (5) | |
| IMD | 0.500 | ||||
| 1 (least deprived) | 239 (16) | 191 (19) | 200 (16) | 134 (19) | |
| 2 | 271 (18) | 205 (20) | 239 (19) | 137 (20) | |
| 3 | 319 (21) | 209 (20) | 267 (21) | 148 (21) | |
| 4 | 325 (22) | 215 (21) | 284 (23) | 144 (21) | |
| 5 (most deprived) | 337 (23) | 206 (20) | 269 (21) | 134 (19) | |
| Smoker status | <0.001 | ||||
| Smoker | 1315 (88) | 920 (90) | 1164 (92) | 605 (87) | |
| Non-smoker | 176 (12) | 106 (10) | 95 (8) | 92 (13) | |
| COPD status | 0.001 | ||||
| New-onset COPD (during months –24 to 0) | 238 (16) | 148 (14) | 150 (12) | 84 (12) | |
| Pre-existing COPD (at –24 months or earlier) | 356 (24) | 222 (22) | 252 (20) | 152 (22) | |
| No COPD | 897 (60) | 656 (64) | 857 (68) | 461 (66) | |
| Elixhauser comorbidity score | <0.001 | ||||
| 0 | 144 (10) | 259 (25) | 439 (35) | 174 (25) | |
| 1 | 161 (11) | 184 (18) | 301 (24) | 121 (17) | |
| 2 | 257 (17) | 195 (19) | 202 (16) | 116 (17) | |
| ≥3 | 929 (62) | 388 (38) | 317 (25) | 286 (41) | |
| Survival at 1 year from diagnosis | <0.001 | ||||
| Died | 1176 (79) | 528 (51) | 634 (50) | 351 (50) | |
| Alive | 315 (21) | 498 (49) | 625 (50) | 346 (50) | |
| Morphology | <0.001 | ||||
| SCLC | 133 (9) | 85 (8) | 170 (14) | 59 (8) | |
| NSCLC | 684 (46) | 718 (70) | 915 (73) | 462 (66) | |
| Unspecified | 674 (45) | 223 (22) | 174 (14) | 176 (25) |
aUnless otherwise stated. bOther routes include: inpatient elective, other managed pathway, DCO (diagnosis by death certificate only), and unknown. 17 cOne-way ANOVA for continuous age at diagnosis; otherwise Pearson’s χ2 test. COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. IQR = interquartile range. NSCLC = non-small-cell lung cancer. SCLC = small-cell lung cancer. SD = standard deviation.