Table 2 Disease knowledge, medical experience, and expenditure in patients with early-onset and late-onset colorectal cancer

Awareness of CRC risk factors, yes

1591 (34.9)

366 (37.1)

1225 (34.3)

0.107

Awareness of CRC screening, yes

689 (15.1)

169 (17.1)

520 (14.6)

0.055

Awareness of CRC treatment, yes

2019 (44.2)

441 (44.5)

1578 (44.1)

0.827

Undergoing the colonoscopy before the first diagnosis, yes

120 (2.6)

29 (2.9)

91 (2.5)

0.575

Barriers to undergo colonoscopy

Lack of awareness, yes

3868 (87.0)

834 (86.8)

3034 (87.1)

0.865

No time for a colonoscopy, yes

368 (8.3)

93 (9.7)

275 (7.9)

0.087

Heard that colonoscopy is a painful procedure, yes

716 (16.1)

141 (14.7)

575 (16.5)

0.189

The cost of colonoscopy is high, yes

172 (3.9)

31 (3.2)

141 (4.0)

0.258

Waiting in line for colonoscopy appointment, yes

172 (3.9)

42 (4.4)

130 (3.7)

0.414

Insurance doesn’t cover it, yes

97 (2.2)

22 (2.3)

75 (2.2)

0.803

Undergoing gene testing, including RAS, BRAF, and MSI, yes

1974 (47.1)

518 (56.7)

1456 (44.4)

< 0.001

Barriers to undergo gene testing

0.052

Target therapy is not accepted (other treatment options are considered to be sufficient)

357 (16.1)

45 (11.3)

312 (17.2)

The test is too expensive and not reimbursable

528 (23.8)

107 (26.8)

421 (23.2)

Anxious to receive treatment and unwilling to wait for genetic test results

125 (5.6)

18 (4.5)

107 (5.9)

Plan to blind-eat targeted drugs

32 (1.4)

6 (1.5)

26 (1.4)

Lack of knowledge

952 (43.0)

183 (45.9)

769 (42.3)

Others

222 (10.0)

40 (10.0)

182 (10.0)

RAS mutation, yes

275 (32.5)

59 (29.4)

216 (33.5)

0.301

BRAF mutation, yes

79 (9.3)

23 (11.4)

56 (8.7)

0.266

MSI, yes

49 (5.8)

13 (6.5)

36 (5.6)

0.608

Undergoing the targeted therapy, yes

1442 (31.7)

364 (36.8)

1078 (30.3)

< 0.001

Barriers to undergo the targeted therapy

The physician did not mention it to patients, yes

1253 (40.4)

266 (42.6)

987 (39.8)

0.231

Genetic tests identify tumors that will not respond to targeted therapy, yes

203 (6.5)

40 (6.4)

163 (6.6)

0.944

There is no confidence in the efficacy of these targeted drug treatments, yes

703 (22.7)

102 (16.3)

601 (24.3)

< 0.001

Cannot afford the cost of medical treatment, yes

736 (23.7)

143 (22.9)

593 (23.9)

0.618

Treatments

Surgery, yes

3823 (83.8)

836 (84.4)

2987 (83.6)

0.612

Endoscopic treatment, yes

141 (3.1)

31 (3.1)

110 (3.1)

0.999

Radiotherapy, yes

1001 (21.9)

266 (26.8)

735 (20.6)

< 0.001

Chemotherapy, yes

3943 (86.4)

906 (91.4)

3037 (85.0)

< 0.001

Immunotherapy, yes

108 (2.4)

24 (2.4)

84 (2.4)

0.992

Out-of-pocket medical expenditure, Chinese Yuan

< 0.001

< 50,000

1147 (25.2)

187 (18.9)

960 (26.9)

50,000-100,000

1859 (40.8)

365 (36.9)

1494 (41.8)

100,000-200,000

1040 (22.8)

259 (26.2)

781 (21.9)

≥ 200,000

514 (11.3)

179 (18.1)

335 (9.4)

Medical expenditure reimbursement ratio (%)

0.59 (0.18)

0.56 (0.18)

0.59 (0.18)

< 0.001

Annual household income, Chinese Yuan

< 0.001

None

759 (16.7)

106 (10.7)

653 (18.3)

< 50,000

1855 (40.7)

353 (35.7)

1502 (42.1)

50,000-100,000

1289 (28.3)

309 (31.3)

980 (27.5)

100,000-200,000

521 (11.4)

163 (16.5)

358 (10.0)

≥ 200,000

132 (2.9)

57 (5.8)

75 (2.1)

Cost of colorectal cancer treatment from the perspective of patients

0.413

< 50,000

1314 (28.9)

273 (27.7)

1041 (29.2)

50,000-100,000

1510 (33.2)

319 (32.3)

1191 (33.5)

100,000-200,000

1103 (24.3)

245 (24.8)

858 (24.1)

200,000-500,000

524 (11.5)

124 (12.6)

400 (11.2)

≥ 500,000

96 (2.1)

26 (2.6)

70 (2.0)

Health insurance

0.005

Urban basic medical insurance

1919 (42.0)

379 (38.2)

1540 (43.0)

Urban basic medical insurance

981 (21.5)

205 (20.7)

776 (21.7)

New rural cooperative medical scheme

1552 (33.9)

373 (37.6)

1179 (32.9)

Other

120 (2.6)

34 (3.4)

86 (2.4)