Table 1. Clinical features of patients flagged up as meeting colorectal cancer referral criteria.

Clinical feature	Identified in first search (prevalent cases)		Identified in subsequent searches (incident cases)		Total
Low haemoglobin and microcytic anaemia	146	29%	90	29%	236	29%
Rectal bleeding	118	24%	87	28%	205	25%
Diarrhoea for ⩾6 weeks	106	21%	52	17%	158	20%
Change in bowel habit	65	13%	39	13%	104	13%
FOBt positive from bowel cancer screening α	54	11%	40	13%	94	12%
Abdominal or rectal mass β	5	1%	3	1%	8	1%
Symptoms not collected γ	4	1%		0%	4	0%
Total	498	100%	311	100%	809	100%

Abbreviation: FOB=faecal occult blood.

α includes one FOB result incorrectly recorded as positive. β no rectal masses were recorded. γ not recorded by nurse reviewing patient notes.