Table 1. Patient and pathway characteristics at the time of referral.
| Variable | N, total=12 339 | % |
|---|---|---|
|
Gender | ||
| Male | 5422 | 43.9 |
| Female | 6917 | 56.1 |
|
Deprivation (quintiles based on SIMD) | ||
| SIMD Q1 (most) | 608 | 4.9 |
| SIMD Q2 | 1522 | 12.3 |
| SIMD Q3 | 2878 | 23.3 |
| SIMD Q4 | 3675 | 29.8 |
| SIMD Q5 (least) | 3656 | 29.6 |
|
Rurality (based on Scottish two-fold URC) | ||
| Urban | 8071 | 65.4 |
| Rural | 4268 | 34.6 |
|
Urgency/referral status | ||
| Urgent suspected cancer (USC) | 3200 | 25.9 |
| Urgent | 2224 | 18.0 |
| Routine | 1414 | 11.5 |
| Screening | 1876 | 15.2 |
| Emergency | 1615 | 13.1 |
| Other | 2010 | 16.3 |
|
Cancer type | ||
| Breast | 3772 | 30.6 |
| Ovarian | 324 | 2.6 |
| Cervical | 133 | 1.1 |
| Prostate | 2007 | 16.3 |
| Melanoma | 575 | 4.7 |
| Lung | 1736 | 14.1 |
| Oesophagogastric | 1017 | 8.2 |
| Colorectal | 2775 | 22.5 |
|
Charlson comorbidity index (excluding cancer and metastatic cancer) | ||
| 0 | 8537 | 69.2 |
| 1 | 2173 | 17.6 |
| 2 | 872 | 7.1 |
| 3 | 392 | 3.2 |
| 4 | 219 | 1.8 |
| 5 | 93 | 0.7 |
| 6+ | 53 | 0.4 |
|
Charlson comorbidity index–condition | ||
| Acute MI | 757 | 6.1 |
| Cerebral vascular accident | 493 | 4.0 |
| Congestive heart failure | 428 | 3.5 |
| Connective tissue disorder | 202 | 1.6 |
| Dementia | 129 | 1.0 |
| Diabetes without long-term complications | 977 | 7.9 |
| Mild or moderate liver disease | 39 | 0.3 |
| Peptic ulcer | 289 | 2.3 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 522 | 4.2 |
| Pulmonary disease | 1414 | 11.5 |
| Diabetes with long-term complications | 77 | 0.6 |
| Paraplegia | 61 | 0.5 |
| Renal disease | 595 | 4.8 |
| Severe liver disease | 13 | 0.1 |
| HIV | <10 | <0.1 |
|
Diagnostic procedure | ||
| Imaging | 2104 | 17.1 |
| Endoscopy/endoscopic biopsy | 5778 | 46.8 |
| Operative biopsy/surgery | 3870 | 31.4 |
| Other | 587 | 4.8 |
|
Main treatment type | ||
| Surgery | 6298 | 51.0 |
| Chemotherapy/radiotherapy | 4948 | 40.1 |
| Other | 1093 | 8.9 |
|
Metastatic cancer | ||
| Yes | 1357 | 11.0 |
| No | 10 982 | 89.0 |
Abbreviations: HIV=human immunodeficiency virus; MI=myocardial infarction; SIMD=Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation; URC=urban rural classification.