Table 2.
Symptoms-to-diagnosis interval, according to different variables
| Symptoms-to-diagnosis interval (months) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean ± SD | Median | Interquartilic range | |
| Total | 5.3 ± 6.0 | 3.4 | 1.5–6.4 |
| Age | |||
| < 50 | 6.6 ± 8.5 | 4.1 | 2.0–7.9 |
| 50–60 | 5.2 ± 5.1 | 3.4 | 1.9–6.5 |
| 60–70 | 5.4 ± 5.9 | 3.5 | 1.8–6.7 |
| 70–80 | 5.4 ± 6.3 | 3.2 | 1.6–6.3 |
| > 80 | 4.5 ± 5.1 | 2.7 | 1.1–5.4 |
| Gender | |||
| Men | 5.0 ± 5.8 | 3.2 | 1.4–6.3 |
| Women | 5.6 ± 6.2 | 3.7 | 1.8–6.6 |
| Tumor location | |||
| Colon | 5.0 ± 6.0 | 3.2 | 1.3–6.2 |
| Rectum | 5.9 ± 6.0 | 3.7 | 2.2–7.3 |
| Stage | |||
| I | 5.7 ± 6.5 | 3.6 | 2–6.2 |
| II | 5.2 ± 5.6 | 3.4 | 1.4–6.7 |
| III | 5.3 ± 6.3 | 3.4 | 1.4–6.4 |
| IV | 5.0 ± 5.5 | 3.2 | 1.8–6.1 |
| Symptoms before diagnosisa | |||
| Abdominal pain | 4.6 ± 5.7 | 2.8 | 1.1–6.1 |
| Constitutional syndrome | 5.5 ± 5.8 | 3.5 | 2.2–6.3 |
| Abdominal mass | 5.4 ± 5.4 | 3.5 | 2.1–6.7 |
| Change in bowel habits | 5.6 ± 6.0 | 3.7 | 2.1–6.7 |
| Anemia | 6.0 ± 5.8 | 3.9 | 2.3–7.2 |
| Rectal pain | 6.2 ± 6.4 | 3.9 | 2.1–8.7 |
| Rectal bleeding | 6.1 ± 6.4 | 4.0 | 2.1–7.4 |
| Rectal tenesmus | 6.0 ± 6.0 | 4.4 | 2.2–7.5 |
| Mucorrhage | 8.0 ± 7.6 | 5.2 | 3.0–12.0 |
SD Standard Deviation
aIn order to compute the symptoms-to-diagnosis interval, the earliest symptom was selected for each patient