Table 3.

Important symptoms, other than 'rectal bleeding', before diagnosis in colorectal cancer patients. Cohort study with 61,802 patients in primary care (2011–12)

Colorectal cancer				A						B
	N			Sensitivity		Specificity		PPV		Sensitivity
	All	Males	Females	All	95% CI		95% CI	All	95% CI	All	95% CI/Location
Abdominal pain, lower part'	94	35	59	14.9%	9.1–23.5	96.6%	96.4–96.7	0.7%	0.4–1.1	30.9%	22.4–40.8
'Abdominal pain, lower part' and cancer (A):	14	6	8
'Abdominal pain, lower part' and cancer (B):	29	13	16								8 proximal, 11 distal, 5 unspecified, 5 rectal
'Abdominal pain, lower part', without cancer: 2084 patients
No abdominal pain, lower part, no cancer: 59,078 patients
'Constipation'				13.8%	8.3–22.2	98.9%	98.8–99.0	1.9%	1.1–3.2	22.3%	15.1–31.8
'Constipation' and cancer (A):	13	5	8
'Constipation' and cancer (B):	21	7	14								3 proximal, 4 distal, 6 unspecified, 8 rectal
'Constipation', without cancer: 676 patients
No constipation, no cancer: 60,486 patients
'Distended abdomen, bloating'				12.8%	7.5–21.0	98.4%	98.3–98.5	1.2%	0.7–2.0	12.8%	7.5–21.0
'Distended abdomen, bloating', and cancer (A):	12	6	6
'Distended abdomen, bloating', and cancer (B):	12	6	6								1 proximal, 4 distal, 2 unspecified, 5 rectal
'Distended abdomen, bloating', without cancer: 1011 patients
No distended abdomen, bloating, no cancer: 60,151 patients

A: Sensitivity, specificity and PPV based on consultation recordings for all patients. B: Sensitivity based on all recordings from consultation to diagnosis in colorectal cancer patients, and colorectal location