Table 3. Predictors of anticipating >2 weeks before help-seeking for a potential warning sign of cancer.

	Persistent cough (n=6447)			Rectal bleeding (n=6622)			Breast changes (n=4097)
	OR	95% CI	P	OR	95% CI	P	OR	95% CI	P
Gender
Male	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–	–	–	–
Female	1.24	1.11–1.38	0.000	0.89	0.74–1.08	0.232	–	–	–
Age group
50–59	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–
60–69	0.90	0.80–1.01	0.076	0.78	0.64–0.96	0.021	1.04	0.80–1.35	0.794
70+	0.52	0.46–0.59	0.000	0.44	0.34–0.58	0.000	0.79	0.58–1.07	0.132
Marital status
Married/cohabiting	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–
Single/divorced/separated	0.93	0.84–1.03	0.166	1.14	0.94–1.38	0.178	1.27	1.01–1.61	0.044
Ethnicity
White	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–
Not White	0.44	0.29–0.67	0.000	0.86	0.41–1.80	0.696	0.51	0.16–1.66	0.264
Education
Degree or above	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–
Below degree	0.61	0.54–0.68	0.000	0.83	0.67–1.03	0.085	0.68	0.52–0.89	0.004
Ease of seeing doctor
Easy	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–
Difficult	1.20	1.04–1.37	0.010	1.37	1.09–1.72	0.007	1.61	1.24–2.10	0.000
Recognise symptom?
Yes	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–	1.00	–	–
No	1.30	1.17–1.46	0.000	1.77	1.36–2.30	0.000	2.45	1.47–4.08	0.001

Abbreviations: OR=odds ratio; 95% CI=95% confidence interval.

The addition of cancer experience (self or close other) did not change the associations.