Table 3 Proportions of diagnostic evaluation among patients who had contacted their general practitioner (GP) about at least one lung cancer symptom.
From: Changes in diagnostic evaluation of patients with lung cancer symptoms
Total imaging | First choice of imaging | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chest X-ray | CT of the thorax | ||||||||
2012 (N = 2538) | 2022 (N = 2229) | 2012 (N = 2538) | 2022 (N = 2229) | 2012 (N = 2538) | 2022 (N = 2229) | ||||
n (%) | n (%) | p-valuea | n (%) | n (%) | p-valuea | n (%) | n (%) | p-valuea | |
Total | 613 (24.2) | 483 (21.7) | <0.01 | 552 (21.7) | 332 (14.9) | <0.001 | 61 (2.4) | 151 (6.8) | <0.001 |
Sex | 0.05 | 0.03 | 0.32 | ||||||
Females | 304 (23.5) | 268 (21.1) | 275 (21.3) | 185 (14.6) | 29 (2.2) | 83 (6.5) | |||
Males | 309 (24.8) | 215 (22.4) | 277 (22.2) | 147 (15.3) | 32 (2.6) | 68 (7.1) | |||
Age groups | 0.03 | <0.01 | 0.18 | ||||||
40-54 years | 142 (22.6) | 81 (17.2) | 121 (19.3) | 49 (10.4) | ≤3 | 23 (4.9) | |||
55-69 years | 521 (30.2) | 409 (25.8) | 389 (22.5) | 252 (15.9) | ≤3 | 114 (7.2) | |||
70+ years | 67 (36.8) | 62 (35.2) | 42 (23.1) | 31 (17.6) | ≤3 | 14 (8.0) | |||
Smoking status | <0.01 | <0.01 | 0.51 | ||||||
Never | 156 (20.2) | 163 (18.8) | 139 (18.0) | 109 (12.6) | 18 (2.3) | 54 (6.2) | |||
Former | 304 (27.2) | 244 (24.2) | 273 (24.4) | 173 (17.1) | 30 (2.7) | 71 (7.0) | |||
Current | 153 (23.6) | 76 (21.5) | 140 (21.6) | 50 (14.1) | 15 (2.3) | 26 (7.3) | |||
Symptom burden | 0.02 | 0.05 | 0.56 | ||||||
1 symptom | 392 (22.0) | 293 (19.9) | 350 (19.7) | 199 (13.5) | 43 (2.4) | 94 (6.4) | |||
2 symptoms | 161 (26.1) | 158 (25.7) | 148 (24.0) | 115 (18.7) | 15 (2.4) | 43 (7.0) | |||
≥3 symptoms | 60 (41.7) | 32 (23.0) | 54 (37.5) | 18 (12.9) | 5 (3.5) | 14 (10.1) | |||
Single symptoms | |||||||||
Prolonged coughing | 334 (26.3) | 298 (22.9) | 0.02 | 139 (18.0) | 109 (12.6) | 0.05 | 20 (1.6) | 87 (6.7) | <0.01 |
Dyspnea | 415 (25.7) | 311 (22.3) | 0.25 | 367 (22.7) | 212 (15.2) | 0.42 | 48 (3.0) | 99 (7.1) | 0.06 |
Heamoptysis | 16 (69.6) | 16 (43.2) | 0.49 | ≤3 | 9 (24.3) | 0.87 | ≤3 | 7 (18.9) | 0.66 |
Prolonged hoarseness | 129 (24.2) | 82 (20.7) | 0.09 | 113 (21.2) | 52 (13.1) | 0.07 | 16 (3.0) | 30 (7.6) | 0.31 |
