Table 3.
Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for slowest quartile time along patient pathway to diagnosis
| Time to diagnosis† | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slowest quartile for first symptom to first attend the GPs | Slowest quartile for first attend the GPs to referral | Slowest quartile for referral to see the specialist | Slowest quartile for first symptoms to see the specialist | |||||||||
| n/total | OR | 95% CI | n/total | OR | 95% CI | n/total | OR | 95% CI | n/total | OR | 95% CI | |
| Age groupa | ||||||||||||
| <60 | 21/84 | 1.01 | 0.43–2.35 | 24/84 | 2.53 | 0.98–6.52 | 20/84 | 1.74 | 0.62–4.86 | 25/84 | 1.38 | 0.60–3.19 |
| 60–69 | 14/56 | 1.00 | (reference) | 9/56 | 1.00 | (reference) | 9/56 | 1.00 | (reference) | 14/56 | 1.00 | (reference) |
| >60 | 19/86 | 0.83 | 0.36–1.91 | 20/86 | 1.72 | 0.66–4.51 | 26/86 | 2.46 | 0.99–6.17 | 19/86 | 0.88 | 0.27–2.12 |
| Sexb | ||||||||||||
| Female | 24/105 | 1.00 | (reference) | 25/105 | 1.00 | (reference) | 25/105 | 1.00 | (reference) | 25/105 | 1.00 | (reference) |
| Male | 30/121 | 1.08 | 0.54–2.14 | 28/121 | 0.96 | 0.49–1.89 | 30/121 | 1.18 | 0.59–2.35 | 33/121 | 1.13 | 0.60–2.10 |
| Ethnicityc | ||||||||||||
| White British | 48/195 | 1.00 | (reference) | 48/195 | 1.00 | (reference) | 46/195 | 1.00 | (reference) | 52/195 | 1.00 | (reference) |
| Other | 7/31 | 0.92 | 0.34–2.51 | 5/31 | 0.43 | 0.13–1.40 | 9/31 | 1.23 | 0.47–3.17 | 6/31 | 0.61 | 0.21–1.78 |
| Houseboundd | ||||||||||||
| No | 54/196 | 1.00 | (reference) | 42/196 | 1.00 | (reference) | 48/196 | 1.00 | (reference) | 54/196 | 1.00 | (reference) |
| Yes | 1/31 | 0.10 | 0.01–0.77 | 11/31 | 2.45 | 0.90–6.69 | 7/31 | 0.61 | 0.18–2.03 | 4/31 | 0.42 | 0.11–1.60 |
| Problems in communicationd | ||||||||||||
| No | 48/196 | 1.00 | (reference) | 49/196 | 1.00 | (reference) | 48/196 | 1.00 | (reference) | 52/196 | 1.00 | (reference) |
| Yes | 7/30 | 0.93 | 0.32–2.72 | 4/30 | 0.44 | 0.12–1.65 | 7/30 | 0.80 | 0.27–2.37 | 6/30 | 0.78 | 0.25–2.41 |
| Symptomsd | ||||||||||||
| Headache | 13/47 | 1.13 | 0.39–3.22 | 15/47 | 6.47 | 1.22–34.3 | 10/47 | 1.18 | 0.39–3.61 | 15/47 | 2.33 | 0.80–6.80 |
| Headache only | 6/16 | 1.96 | 0.54–7.05 | 8/16 | 11.8 | 1.88–73.9 | 3/16 | 0.92 | 0.18–4.55 | 7/16 | 4.11 | 1.10–15.5 |
| Headache plus | 7/31 | 0.81 | 0.23–2.80 | 8/31 | 4.54 | 0.78–26.5 | 7/31 | 1.34 | 0.39–4.54 | 8/31 | 1.68 | 0.50–5.60 |
| Behavioural/cognitive | 10/28 | 1.64 | 0.55–4.85 | 7/28 | 5.41 | 0.98–29.8 | 8/28 | 1.59 | 0.47–5.37 | 9/28 | 2.62 | 0.77–8.90 |
| Confusion | 3/14 | 0.97 | 0.22–4.28 | 1/14 | 1.55 | 0.11–21.3 | 3/14 | 1.06 | 0.17–6.53 | 2/14 | 1.13 | 0.20–6.59 |
| Memory | 6/14 | 2.55 | 0.67–9.68 | 6/14 | 10.9 | 1.79–66.1 | 5/14 | 2.15 | 0.52–8.84 | 7/14 | 4.82 | 1.15–20.1 |
| Focal neurology | 14/75 | 0.70 | 0.26–1.87 | 14/75 | 3.37 | 0.69–16.52 | 22/75 | 1.61 | 0.60–4.31 | 18/75 | 1.79 | 0.62–5.17 |
| Fits, faints or falls | 11/47 | 1.00 | (reference) | 3/47 | 1.00 | (reference) | 9/47 | 1.00 | (reference) | 7/47 | 1.00 | (reference) |
| Non-specific neurological | 3/11 | 0.96 | 0.16–5.79 | 5/11 | 11.9 | 1.82–77.8 | 3/11 | 1.73 | 0.36–8.45 | 2/11 | 1.29 | 1.96–8.51 |
| Other/non-specific | 5/18 | 1.15 | 0.27–4.88 | 7/18 | 8.23 | 1.03–66.0 | 3/18 | 0.71 | 0.14–3.60 | 7/18 | 3.35 | 0.89–12.65 |
| Investigation before referrald | ||||||||||||
| No | 31/153 | 1.00 | (reference) | 20/153 | 1.00 | (reference) | 34/153 | 1.00 | (reference) | 24/153 | 1.00 | (reference) |
| Yes | 24/73 | 2.02 | 1.01–4.03 | 32/73 | 5.53 | 2.62–11.67 | 21/73 | 1.33 | 0.68–2.60 | 34/73 | 4.81 | 2.36–9.79 |
| Type of referrald | ||||||||||||
| Emergency | 20/98 | 1.00 | (reference) | 16/98 | 1.00 | (reference) | 11/98 | 1.00 | (reference) | 17/98 | 1.00 | (reference) |
| Not referred by practice | 7/38 | 0.79 | 0.24–2.55 | 5/38 | 0.70 | 0.18–2.73 | 6/38 | 1.57 | 0.34–7.22 | 4/38 | 0.57 | 0.17–1.89 |
| 2 week/private | 13/46 | 1.56 | 0.67–3.61 | 14/46 | 2.26 | 0.89–2.73 | 10/46 | 2.17 | 0.74–6.39 | 13/46 | 1.78 | 0.72–4.44 |
| Routine | 15/44 | 2.08 | 0.86–4.99 | 18/44 | 3.67 | 1.53–8.85 | 28/44 | 14.5 | 5.13–40.8 | 24/44 | 5.72 | 2.26–14.5 |
| Which specialist to be referredd | ||||||||||||
| A&E | 3/24 | 1.00 | (reference) | 3/24 | 1.00 | (reference) | 2/24 | 1.00 | (reference) | 1/24 | 1.00 | (reference) |
| Neurosur/neurol | 20/84 | 2.81 | 0.53–15.0 | 28/84 | 4.35 | 0.68–27.8 | 22/84 | 5.60 | 0.69–45.6 | 23/84 | 7.42 | 0.83–66.2 |
| Med/stroke/opth/paeds/ miscl | 33/118 | 3.82 | 0.73–19.9 | 21/118 | 1.97 | 0.32–11.9 | 31/118 | 5.52 | 0.69–44.1 | 34/118 | 9.45 | 1.03–87.1 |
A&E, accident and emergency; Neurosur/neurol, neurosurgery and neurology; Med/stroke/opth/paeds/miscl, medicine and geriatrics, stroke, ophthalmology, paediatrics and miscellaneous.
aAdjusted for sex and ethnicity; bAdjusted for age group and ethnicity; cAdjusted for age group and sex; dAdjusted for age group, sex and ethnicity.
†Long time to diagnosis defined as worst quartile of time to diagnosis period.