Table 5.
Univariate analysis of explanatory factors for symptom duration
| Characteristic | Symptom duration (weeks) | Overall | P-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤3 | 4–7 | 8–11 | ≥12 | |||
| Total (mean n (% by row)) | 61 (13.4) | 106 (23.2) | 115 (25.2) | 174 (38.2) | 456 (100) | |
| Demographic data | ||||||
| – Male sex (mean n (% by row)) | 49 (80.3) | 71 (67.0) | 87 (75.7) | 115 (66.1) | 322 (70.6) | 0.129* |
| – Age (mean (SD); years) | 65.3 (10.6) | 64.9 (12.1) | 65.2 (11.8) | 63.5 (12.2) | 64.5 (11.9) | 0.167† |
| – Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (median (IQR)) | 0 (0–2) | 1 (0–1) | 1 (0–1) | 1 (0–1) | 1 (0–1) | 0.843‡ |
| – Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (median (IQR)) | 2 (1–3.5) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 2 (1–4) | 0.506‡ |
| Risk factors (mean n (% by column)) | ||||||
| – Alcohol excess | 24 (39.3) | 39 (36.8) | 38 (33.0) | 54 (31.0) | 155 (34.0) | 0.181* |
| – Smoking history | 46 (75.4) | 82 (77.4) | 83 (72.2) | 129 (74.1) | 340 (74.6) | 0.648* |
| Cancer subsite (mean n (% by column)) | ||||||
| – Oral | 18 (29.5) | 25 (23.6) | 30 (26.1) | 42 (24.1) | 115 (25.2) | 0.615* |
| – Larynx | 5 (8.2) | 27 (25.5) | 30 (26.1) | 52 (29.9) | 114 (25.0) | 0.007* |
| Cancer of unknown primary | 6 (9.8) | 4 (3.8) | 2 (1.7) | 5 (2.9) | 17 (3.7) | 0.064* |
*Mann–Whitney U testing; †Spearman's correlation testing; ‡Kruskal–Wallis H testing. SD = standard deviation; IQR = interquartile range