Do colorectal cancer patients diagnosed as an emergency differ from non-emergency patients in their consultation patterns and symptoms?: a longitudinal data-linkage study in England
Background: More than 20% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed following an emergency presentation. We aimed to examine pre-diagnostic primary care consultations and related symptoms comparing patients diagnosed as emergencies with those diagnosed through nonemergency routes. Methods: Cohort study o...
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| Format: | Article |
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Cancer Research UK
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35646/ |
| _version_ | 1848795128113659904 |
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| author | Renzi, C. Lyratzopoulos, G. Card, Timothy R. Chu, T. Macleod, U. Ratchet, B. |
| author_facet | Renzi, C. Lyratzopoulos, G. Card, Timothy R. Chu, T. Macleod, U. Ratchet, B. |
| author_sort | Renzi, C. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background: More than 20% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed following an emergency presentation. We aimed to examine pre-diagnostic primary care consultations and related symptoms comparing patients diagnosed as emergencies with those diagnosed through nonemergency routes.
Methods: Cohort study of colorectal cancers diagnosed in England 2005-06 using cancer registration data individually linked to primary care data (CPRD/GPRD), allowing a detailed analysis of clinical information referring to the 5-year pre-diagnostic period.
Results: Emergency diagnosis occurred in 35% and 15% of the 1029 colon and 577 rectal cancers. ‘Background’ primary care consultations (2-5 years before diagnosis) were similar for either group. In the year before diagnosis, more than 95% of emergency and non-emergency presenters had consulted their doctor, but emergency presenters had less frequently relevant symptoms (colon cancer: 48% versus 71% (p<0.001); rectal cancer: 49% versus 61% (p=0.043)). ‘Alarm’ symptoms were recorded less frequently in emergency presenters (e.g. rectal bleeding: 9% versus 24% (p=0.002)). However, about 1/5 of emergency presenters (18% and 23% for colon and rectal cancers) had 'alarm' symptoms the year before diagnosis.
Conclusions: Emergency presenters have similar ‘background’ consultation history as nonemergency presenters. Their tumours seem associated with less typical symptoms, however opportunities for earlier diagnosis might be present in a fifth of them. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:27:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-35646 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:27:09Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Cancer Research UK |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-356462024-08-15T15:20:03Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35646/ Do colorectal cancer patients diagnosed as an emergency differ from non-emergency patients in their consultation patterns and symptoms?: a longitudinal data-linkage study in England Renzi, C. Lyratzopoulos, G. Card, Timothy R. Chu, T. Macleod, U. Ratchet, B. Background: More than 20% of colorectal cancers are diagnosed following an emergency presentation. We aimed to examine pre-diagnostic primary care consultations and related symptoms comparing patients diagnosed as emergencies with those diagnosed through nonemergency routes. Methods: Cohort study of colorectal cancers diagnosed in England 2005-06 using cancer registration data individually linked to primary care data (CPRD/GPRD), allowing a detailed analysis of clinical information referring to the 5-year pre-diagnostic period. Results: Emergency diagnosis occurred in 35% and 15% of the 1029 colon and 577 rectal cancers. ‘Background’ primary care consultations (2-5 years before diagnosis) were similar for either group. In the year before diagnosis, more than 95% of emergency and non-emergency presenters had consulted their doctor, but emergency presenters had less frequently relevant symptoms (colon cancer: 48% versus 71% (p<0.001); rectal cancer: 49% versus 61% (p=0.043)). ‘Alarm’ symptoms were recorded less frequently in emergency presenters (e.g. rectal bleeding: 9% versus 24% (p=0.002)). However, about 1/5 of emergency presenters (18% and 23% for colon and rectal cancers) had 'alarm' symptoms the year before diagnosis. Conclusions: Emergency presenters have similar ‘background’ consultation history as nonemergency presenters. Their tumours seem associated with less typical symptoms, however opportunities for earlier diagnosis might be present in a fifth of them. Cancer Research UK 2016-09-27 Article PeerReviewed Renzi, C., Lyratzopoulos, G., Card, Timothy R., Chu, T., Macleod, U. and Ratchet, B. (2016) Do colorectal cancer patients diagnosed as an emergency differ from non-emergency patients in their consultation patterns and symptoms?: a longitudinal data-linkage study in England. British Journal of Cancer, 115 (7). pp. 866-875. ISSN 1532-1827 Symptomatic presentations; primary care; emergency diagnosis; colorectal cancer; data-linkage study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5046207/ doi:10.1038/bjc.2016.250 doi:10.1038/bjc.2016.250 |
| spellingShingle | Symptomatic presentations; primary care; emergency diagnosis; colorectal cancer; data-linkage study Renzi, C. Lyratzopoulos, G. Card, Timothy R. Chu, T. Macleod, U. Ratchet, B. Do colorectal cancer patients diagnosed as an emergency differ from non-emergency patients in their consultation patterns and symptoms?: a longitudinal data-linkage study in England |
| title | Do colorectal cancer patients diagnosed as an emergency differ from non-emergency patients in their consultation patterns and symptoms?: a longitudinal data-linkage study in
England |
| title_full | Do colorectal cancer patients diagnosed as an emergency differ from non-emergency patients in their consultation patterns and symptoms?: a longitudinal data-linkage study in
England |
| title_fullStr | Do colorectal cancer patients diagnosed as an emergency differ from non-emergency patients in their consultation patterns and symptoms?: a longitudinal data-linkage study in
England |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do colorectal cancer patients diagnosed as an emergency differ from non-emergency patients in their consultation patterns and symptoms?: a longitudinal data-linkage study in
England |
| title_short | Do colorectal cancer patients diagnosed as an emergency differ from non-emergency patients in their consultation patterns and symptoms?: a longitudinal data-linkage study in
England |
| title_sort | do colorectal cancer patients diagnosed as an emergency differ from non-emergency patients in their consultation patterns and symptoms?: a longitudinal data-linkage study in
england |
| topic | Symptomatic presentations; primary care; emergency diagnosis; colorectal cancer; data-linkage study |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35646/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35646/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35646/ |