Table 2.
Participants experiencing potential cancer symptoms and associated symptom help-seeking
| Potential cancer symptom | Had symptom* | Had symptom— weighted† | Did not contact GP in the last 6 months‡ | Did not contact GP in the last 12 months—USEFUL study§ | Contacted GP in the last 6 months¶ | Contacted GP in the last 12 months—USEFUL study§ |
| n/7543 (%) | n/7543 (%) | n/S (%) | n (%) | n/S (%) | n (%) | |
| Non-specific symptom | ||||||
| A persistent change in bowel habits | 541 (7.2) | 525 (7.0) | 267 (49.4) | 682/1323 (51.5) | 254 (47.0) | 641/1,323 (48.5) |
| A persistent change in bladder habits | 450 (6.0) | 414 (5.5) | 216 (48.0) | – | 227 (50.4) | – |
| Tired all the time | 1603 (21.3) | 1614 (21.4) | 1031 (64.3) | 1778/3078 (57.8) | 540 (33.7) | 1300/3078 (42.2) |
| Persistent unexplained pain | 662 (8.8) | 646 (8.6) | 286 (43.2) | – | 361 (54.5) | – |
| Non-specific/red flag symptom | ||||||
| Unexplained weight loss | 395 (5.2) | 433 (5.7) | 205 (51.9) | 152/341 (44.6) | 179 (45.3) | 189/341 (55.4) |
| Red flag symptom | ||||||
| A change in the appearance of a mole | 391 (5.2) | 402 (5.3) | 229 (58.6) | – | 157 (40.2) | – |
| An unexplained lump or swelling | 422 (5.6) | 418 (5.5) | 173 (41.0) | – | 239 (56.6) | – |
| Unexplained bleeding | 267 (3.5) | 291 (3.9) | 115 (43.1) | – | 143 (53.6) | – |
| A persistent difficulty swallowing | 237 (3.1) | 248 (3.3) | 97 (40.9) | 557/884 (63.0) | 128 (54.0) | 327/884 (37.0) |
| A sore that does not heal | 291 (3.9) | 297 (3.9) | 146 (50.2) | – | 128 (44.0) | – |
| Red flag/Lung-specific symptom | ||||||
| Coughing up blood | 114 (1.5) | 127 (1.7) | 35 (30.7) | 31/91 (34.1) | 67 (58.8) | 60/91 (65.9) |
| Lung-specific symptom | ||||||
| Shortness of breath | 1052 (13.9) | 966 (12.8) | 538 (51.1) | 1228/2647 (46.4) | 484 (46.0) | 1419/2647 (53.6) |
| Persistent hoarseness | 200 (2.7) | 206 (2.7) | 95 (47.5) | 941/1319 (71.3) | 96 (48.0) | 378/1319 (28.7) |
| A persistent cough | 444 (5.9) | 401 (5.3) | 209 (47.1) | 1088/2189 (49.7) | 230 (51.8) | 1101/2189 (50.3) |
| A change in an existing cough | 196 (2.6) | 219 (2.9) | 84 (42.9) | 153/298 (51.3) | 100 (51.0) | 145/298 (48.7) |
| All potential cancer symptoms | 3025 (40.1)** | 2909 (38.6) | 1355/3025 (44.8)†† | 3974/9810 (40.5) | 1636/3025 (54.1)‡‡ | 5836/9810 (59.5) |
| Non-specific symptom | 2284 (30.3)** | 2261 (30.0) | ||||
| Red flag symptom | 1327 (17.6)** | 1310 (17.4) | ||||
| Lung-specific symptom | 1386 (18.4)** | 1289 (17.1) | ||||
Data are n (%) and unweighted unless otherwise stated; N=number, N/S=number of respondents representing each symptom help-seeking behaviour/number of respondents who had this symptom.
*Denominator includes those who did not have a symptom and those who preferred not to say (around 1% of the sample).
†All data are weighted to match the UK adult population on age, gender, ethnicity and country.
‡Includes participants who had not contacted the GP yet, but planned to. ‘Did not contact GP’ and ‘contacted GP’ columns are mutually exclusive. Denominator includes participants who preferred not to say.
§Comparator data for adults aged >50 years who did and did not contact the GP in the last 12 months.13
¶A further breakdown of help-seeking intervals is in online supplemental table S4.
**At least one potential cancer symptom reported.
††Did not contact the GP for symptoms reported in the last 6 months. ‘Did not contact GP’ and ‘contacted GP’ columns are mutually exclusive. Denominator also includes 34 (1.1%) who preferred not to say across all their symptoms.
‡‡Contacted the GP for at least one symptom in the last 6 months.
GP, general practitioner.