Table 2.
Characteristics of patients with colon cancer who had contact with the practice of the general practitioner versus patients who did not have contact during routine follow-up (2013–15)
| Patients with contact (n = 153) |
Patients with no contact (n = 30) |
P value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years, mean, SD) | 68 (9) | 63 (10) | 0.005 | |
| Gender (female, %) | 78 (50) | 13 (43) | 0.44 | |
| Time after surgery (months, median, range) | 7.3 (0–58) | 7.7 (3–25) | 0.47 | |
| Tumour stagea (%) | 0.14 | |||
| I | 39 (25.5) | 7 (23) | ||
| II | 49 (32) | 15 (50) | ||
| III | 65 (42.5) | 8 (27) | ||
| Participants treated with adj. CTxb, no. (%) | 62 (41) | 7 (23) | 0.08 | |
| Adj. CTxb before study, no. (%) | 38 (25) | 3 (10) | 0.08 | |
| Adj. CTxb during study, no. (%) | 24 (16) | 4 (13) | 1 | |
| Comorbidity, no. (%) | 114 (75) | 14 (47) | 0.002 | |
| Cardiovascular disease | 77 (50) | 9 (30) | 0.04 | |
| Musculoskeletal disorders | 24 (16) | 7 (23) | 0.3 | |
| Psychologic disorders | 14 (9) | 1 (3) | 0.5 | |
| Urologic disorders | 21 (14) | 0 (0) | ||
| Skin | 13 (9) | 3 (10) | 0.7 | |
| Otherc | 24 (16) | 5 (17) | 1 | |
| Stoma | 15 (10) | 4 (13) | 0.5 | |
| Diabetes | 28 (18) | 0 (0) | ||
| Hypertension | 59 (39) | 8 (27) | 0.2 | |
| Asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 13 (9) | 3 (10) | 0.7 |
Percentages are calculated within the group of participants; e.g. patients with contacts and patients without contacts (n = 153, n = 31).
a Tumour stage was defined using the TNM5 criteria (30).
bAdj. CTx: adjuvant chemotherapy.
cReported by less than 5% of the participants: general and unspecified conditions, conditions concerning lymphatics, digestive system, eye, ear, male and female genital system and neurological conditions.