Table 1. Characteristics of patients per studied symptom cohort at time of index consultation, n (%).
| Demographic and clinical variables | Abdominal bloating/distension n/(%) | Abdominal pain n/(%) | Change in bowel habit n/(%) | Dyspepsia n/(%) | Dysphagia n/(%) | Rectal bleeding n/(%) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 100,856 | (100.0) | 890,490 | (100.0) | 106,715 | (100.0) | 517,326 | (100.0) | 86,193 | (100.0) | 235,094 | (100.0) |
| Sex | ||||||||||||
| Female | 73,583 | (73.0) | 561,373 | (63.0) | 61,476 | (57.6) | 300,053 | (58.0) | 48,759 | (56.6) | 118,371 | (50.4) |
| Age (years) | ||||||||||||
| Median (IQR) | 53 | (43–66) | 52 | (41–66) | 63 | (52–73) | 56 | (44–68) | 63 | (51–75) | 56 | (46–69) |
| Age group (years) | ||||||||||||
| 30–39 | 17,709 | (17.6) | 198,916 | (22.3) | 6,666 | (6.2) | 79,425 | (15.4) | 6,988 | (8.1) | 39,042 | (16.6) |
| 40–49 | 23,915 | (23.7) | 198,502 | (22.3) | 14,596 | (13.7) | 105,389 | (20.4) | 12,705 | (14.7) | 47,676 | (20.3) |
| 50–59 | 21,124 | (20.9) | 173,876 | (19.5) | 23,103 | (21.6) | 108,031 | (20.9) | 16,496 | (19.1) | 48,879 | (20.8) |
| 60–69 | 18,029 | (17.9) | 152,039 | (17.1) | 26,165 | (24.5) | 108,086 | (20.9) | 18,372 | (21.3) | 44,231 | (18.8) |
| 70–79 | 13,354 | (13.2) | 109,848 | (12.3) | 23,489 | (22.0) | 78,729 | (15.2) | 17,566 | (20.4) | 34,472 | (14.7) |
| 80+ | 6,725 | (6.7) | 57,309 | (6.4) | 12,696 | (11.9) | 37,666 | (7.3) | 14,066 | (16.3) | 20,794 | (8.8) |
| Number of abdominal symptoms at index * | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 31,948 | (31.7) | 881,099 | (98.9) | 102,613 | (96.2) | 452,348 | (87.4) | 84,259 | (97.8) | 229,746 | (97.7) |
| 2 | 66,154 | (65.6) | 8,156 | (0.9) | 3,552 | (3.3) | 62,917 | (12.2) | 1,812 | (2.1) | 4,942 | (2.1) |
| 3+ | 2,754 | (2.7) | 1,235 | (0.1) | 550 | (0.5) | 2,061 | (0.4) | 122 | (0.1) | 406 | (0.2) |
| Other abdominal symptoms ** | ||||||||||||
| None | 24,899 | (24.7) | 819,828 | (92.1) | 86,118 | (80.7) | 389,398 | (75.3) | 71,515 | (83.0) | 202,794 | (86.3) |
| Any | 75,957 | (75.3) | 70,662 | (7.9) | 20,597 | (19.3) | 127,928 | (24.7) | 14,678 | (17.0) | 32,300 | (13.7) |
| Abdominal bloating/distension | 10,572 | (1.2) | 1,715 | (1.6) | 60,690 | (11.7) | 852 | (1.0) | 2,029 | (0.9) | ||
| Abdominal pain | 16,650 | (16.5) | 12,701 | (11.9) | 59,594 | (11.5) | 7,463 | (8.7) | 20,537 | (8.7) | ||
| Change in bowel habit | 1,418 | (1.4) | 7,399 | (0.8) | 4,163 | (0.8) | 714 | (0.8) | 3,056 | (1.3) | ||
| Dyspepsia | 70,679 | (70.1) | 44,309 | (5.0) | 6,068 | (5.7) | 6,753 | (7.8) | 10,286 | (4.4) | ||
| Dysphagia | 759 | (0.8) | 4,552 | (0.5) | 793 | (0.7) | 9,356 | (1.8) | 1,361 | (0.6) | ||
| Rectal bleeding | 1,941 | (1.9) | 13,565 | (1.5) | 3,307 | (3.1) | 8,022 | (1.6) | 1,336 | (1.6) | ||
* Number of symptoms recorded simultaneously on index consultation date.
** Symptoms recorded in the same consultations or up to a year prior. Note that patients can have multiple abdominal symptoms in the previous year, and, therefore, %s may not add to 100.