Table 1.
Patient characteristics, diagnostic investigations and routes to cancer diagnosis by comorbidity status.
| Colon | Rectum | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All patients | Non comorbid | Comorbid | Chi2 p value | All patients | Non comorbid | Comorbid | Chi2 p value | |
| Age group | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||||
| <45 | 83 (2.6) | 71 (4.1) | 12 (0.8) | 48 (3.0) | 44 (4.2) | 4 (0.7) | ||
| 45–54 | 235 (7.3) | 182 (10.5) | 53 (3.6) | 173 (10.7) | 150 (14.4) | 23 (4.0) | ||
| 55–64 | 479 (14.9) | 320 (18.5) | 159 (10.7) | 327 (20.2) | 248 (23.9) | 79 (13.6) | ||
| 65–74 | 762 (23.7) | 433 (25.0) | 329 (22.2) | 422 (26.0) | 277 (26.7) | 145 (24.9) | ||
| 75–84 | 1144 (35.6) | 513 (29.7) | 631 (42.5) | 473 (29.2) | 251 (24.2) | 222 (38.1) | ||
| 85+ | 512 (15.9) | 211 (12.2) | 301 (20.3) | 178 (11.0) | 69 (6.6) | 109 (18.7) | ||
| Sex | 0.132 | 0.131 | ||||||
| Male | 1569 (48.8) | 823 (47.6) | 746 (50.2) | 974 (60.1) | 610 (58.7) | 364 (62.5) | ||
| Female | 1646 (51.2) | 907 (52.4) | 739 (49.8) | 647 (39.9) | 429 (41.3) | 218 (37.5) | ||
| Deprivation quintile | <0.001 | 0.008 | ||||||
| 1 (Least deprived) | 808 (25.1) | 457 (26.4) | 351 (23.6) | 379 (23.4) | 258 (24.8) | 121 (20.8) | ||
| 2 | 745 (23.2) | 406 (23.5) | 339 (22.8) | 348 (21.5) | 220 (21.2) | 128 (22.0) | ||
| 3 | 684 (21.3) | 395 (22.8) | 289 (19.5) | 362 (22.3) | 242 (23.3) | 120 (20.6) | ||
| 4 | 557 (17.3) | 286 (16.5) | 271 (18.2) | 283 (17.5) | 183 (17.6) | 100 (17.2) | ||
| 5 (most deprived) | 421 (13.1) | 186 (10.8) | 235 (15.8) | 249 (15.4) | 136 (13.1) | 113 (19.4) | ||
| New-onset symptoms in the two years before CRC diagnosis | ||||||||
| Rectal bleeding or CIBH | 767 (23.9) | 465 (26.9) | 302 (20.3) | <0.001 | 1034 (63.8) | 730 (70.3) | 304 (52.2) | <0.001 |
| Anaemia (Lab-based) | 1285 (40.0) | 650 (37.6) | 635 (42.8) | 272 (16.8) | 122 (11.7) | 150 (25.8) | ||
| Non red-flag symptoms | 1163 (36.2) | 615 (35.5) | 548 (36.9) | 315 (19.4) | 187 (18.0) | 128 (22.0) | ||
| Had Colonoscopy/Flexible Sigmoidoscopy two years before CRC diagnosis | <0.001 | 0.013 | ||||||
| No | 1143 (35.6) | 550 (31.8) | 593 (39.9) | 255 (15.7) | 146 (14.1) | 109 (18.7) | ||
| Yes | 2072 (64.4) | 1180 (68.2) | 892 (60.1) | 1366 (84.3) | 893 (85.9) | 473 (81.3) | ||
| Type of first investigation in the two years prior CRC diagnosisa | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||||
| Bowel endoscopy | 1713 (53.3) | 1022 (59.1) | 691 (46.5) | 1276 (78.7) | 860 (82.8) | 416 (71.5) | ||
| Abdominal/Pelvic | 588 (18.3) | 247 (14.3) | 341 (23.0) | 114 (7.0) | 36 (3.5) | 78 (13.4) | ||
| Non-specific abdominal | 914 (28.4) | 461 (26.6) | 453 (30.5) | 231 (14.3) | 143 (13.8) | 88 (15.1) | ||
| Route to diagnosis | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||||
| Emergency presentation | 957 (29.8) | 401 (23.2) | 556 (37.4) | 185 (11.4) | 75 (7.2) | 110 (18.9) | ||
| Two-week wait | 1086 (33.8) | 668 (38.6) | 418 (28.1) | 786 (48.5) | 556 (53.5) | 230 (39.5) | ||
| GP referral | 806 (25.1) | 459 (26.5) | 347 (23.4) | 490 (30.2) | 315 (30.3) | 175 (30.1) | ||
| Other in/outpatient | 366 (11.4) | 202 (11.7) | 164 (11.0) | 160 (9.9) | 93 (9.0) | 67 (11.5) | ||
| TNM Stage at diagnosisb | 0.637 | 0.107 | ||||||
| I | 268 (10.6) | 156 (11.2) | 112 (9.9) | 251 (20.4) | 162 (19.8) | 89 (21.8) | ||
| II | 778 (30.8) | 424 (30.4) | 354 (31.3) | 264 (21.5) | 171 (20.9) | 93 (22.7) | ||
| III | 707 (28.0) | 397 (28.4) | 310 (27.4) | 421 (34.3) | 300 (36.6) | 121 (29.6) | ||
| IV | 773 (30.6) | 419 (30.0) | 354 (31.3) | 292 (23.8) | 186 (22.7) | 106 (25.9) | ||
| Missing | 689 (21.4) | 334 (19.3) | 355 (23.9) | 393 (24.2) | 220 (21.2) | 173 (29.7) | ||
| Specific comorbidities | ||||||||
| CVD | 583 (18.1) | 209 (12.9) | ||||||
| COPD | 560 (17.4) | 217 (13.4) | ||||||
| Diabetes | 493 (15.3) | 201 (12.4) | ||||||
| Renal disease | 224 (7.0) | 91 (5.6) | ||||||
| Comorbidity count | ||||||||
| 0 | 1730 (53.8) | 1039 (64.1) | ||||||
| 1 | 840 (26.1) | 357 (22.0) | ||||||
| 2 | 384 (11.9) | 127 (7.8) | ||||||
| 3+ | 261 (8.1) | 98 (6.0) | ||||||
| Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score | ||||||||
| 0 | 1730 (53.8) | 1039 (64.1) | ||||||
| 1 | 750 (23.3) | 315 (19.4) | ||||||
| 2 | 343 (10.7) | 124 (7.6) | ||||||
| 3+ | 392 (12.2) | 143 (8.8) | ||||||
| Total | 3215 (100.0) | 1730 (100.0) | 1485 (100.0) | 1621 (100.0) | 1039 (100.0) | 582 (100.0) | ||
CIBH change in bowel habit; non red-flag symptoms include abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhoea, weight loss and fatigue; CVD cardiovascular disease, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
aA bowel endoscopy was performed following non-specific abdominal/pelvic tests (rather than as first test) in 11% of colon and 5% of rectal cancer patients.
bStage I–IV percentages refer to the subgroup of patients with stage information. Percentage of missing stage refers to the total sample.