Table 1. Baseline characteristics.
| Enrolled | Consent only | Not Enrolled | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 838 | 289 | 1044 | ||
| Age, mean (SD), years | 63.6 (13.5) | 60.5 (17.1) | 64.7 (16.4) | <0.001* |
| Gender, n (%), women | 443 (53) | 162 (56) | 591 (57) | 0.25 |
| Symptoms at referral, n (%) | ||||
| Weight loss | 294 (35) | 111 (38) | 346 (33) | 0.23 |
| Pain | 122 (15) | 57 (20) | 161 (15) | 0.11 |
| Suspicion of major illness/cancer | 127 (15) | 5 (2) | 30 (3) | <0.001 |
| Abnormal blood tests | 106 (13) | 36 (12) | 118 (11) | 0.63 |
| Fatigue | 105 (13) | 40 (14) | 151 (14) | 0.48 |
| Pathological lymph node | 72 (9) | 24 (8) | 71 (7) | 0.31 |
| Anemia | 71 (8) | 28 (10) | 74 (7) | 0.28 |
| Feeling ill | 41 (5) | 16 (6) | 34 (3) | 0.09 |
| Night sweats | 46 (5) | 20 (7) | 43 (4) | 0.12 |
| Loss of appetite/nausea | 35 (4) | 25 (9) | 45 (4) | 0.01* |
| Fever | 34 (4) | 10 (3) | 34 (3) | 0.65 |
| Abdominal disorder | 31 (4) | 18 (6) | 43 (4) | 0.18 |
| Increased contact to health system | 2 (0.2) | 1 (0.3) | 0 | 0.48 |
| Recurrent deep venous thrombosis | 1 (0.1) | 1 (0.3) | 0 | 0.62 |
| Increased use of medication | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Other | 177 (21) | 72 (25) | 90 (9) | <0.001** |
| Cancer diagnosis, n (%) | 188 (22) | 35 (12) | <0.001 | |
| Co-morbidity | ||||
| 0 | 393 (47) | |||
| 1 | 258 (31) | |||
| ≥2 | 187 (22) | |||
| Duration of symptoms, weeks, median (IQR) | 12 (6–26) | |||
| Missing, n,% | 168 (20) | |||
| Exposures, n (%) | 158 (19) | |||
| Missing, n,% | 5 (0.6) | |||
| Smoking, n (%) | ||||
| Never smoked | 368 (44) | |||
| Former smoker | 221 (26) | |||
| Smoker | 208 (25) | |||
| Missing, n,% | 41 (5) | |||
| Marital status, n (%) | ||||
| Married/co-inhabitant | 565 (67) | |||
| Separated/divorced | 97 (12) | |||
| Widow/widower | 92 (11) | |||
| Unmarried/single | 80 (9) | |||
| Missing, n,% | 9 (0.5) | |||
| Education, n (%) | ||||
| Compulsory <12 years | 178 (21) | |||
| Short <15 years/skilled worker | 285 (34) | |||
| Medium academic/trade | 234 (28) | |||
| Long academic/university level | 131 (16) | |||
| Missing, n,% | 10 (1) | |||
| Occupation, n (%) | ||||
| Employed | 311 (37) | |||
| Retired/Disability pay | 491 (59) | |||
| Unemployed | 31 (7) | |||
| Missing, n,% | 5 (0.6) | |||
| Cancer in family, n (%) | 162 (19) | |||
| Missing, n,% | 20 (2) | |||
| Previous cancer in patient | 72 (9) | |||
| Missing, n,% | 7 (1) |
*Significant difference between enrolled and consent only
**Significant difference between enrolled and not enrolled