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Table 1 General characteristics of study patientsa

From: Time to diagnosis and associated costs of an outpatient vs inpatient setting in the diagnosis of lymphoma: a retrospective study of a large cohort of major lymphoma subtypes in Spain

Characteristic

Total (N = 1719)

QDU (1) OPs (n = 688)

QDU (2) OPs (n = 496)

Total OPs 1 (n = 1184)

IPs 2 (n = 535)

P value 1 vs 2

Age (years), mean (SD)

63.4 (17.4)

62.7 (13.8)

61.8 (11.5)

62.3 (14.7)

65.6 (12.2)

<.001

Sex, n (%)

 Females

768 (44.6)

318 (46.2)

227 (45.8)

545 (46.0)

223 (41.7)

<.001

 Males

951 (55.4)

370 (53.8)

269 (54.2)

639 (54.0)

312 (58.3)

<.001

Clinical manifestations, n (%)b

 Lymphadenopathy

1112 (64.7)

487 (70.8)

358 (72.2)

845 (71.4)

267 (49.9)

<.001

 Systemic symptomsc

449 (26.1)

155 (22.5)

103 (20.8)

258 (21.8)

191 (35.7)

<.001

 Pain symptomsd

89 (5.2)

26 (3.8)

17 (3.4)

43 (3.6)

46 (8.6)

<.001

 Chest symptomse

45 (2.6)

14 (2.0)

12 (2.4)

26 (2.2)

19 (3.6)

.128

 Other symptoms/signsf

24 (1.4)

6 (0.9)

6 (1.2)

12 (1.0)

12 (2.2)

.139

Referral sources, n (%)

      

 Emergency department

656 (38.2)

182 (26.5)

108 (21.8)

290 (24.5)

366 (68.4)

<.001

 Primary care

1063 (61.8)

506 (73.5)

388 (78.2)

894 (75.5)

169 (31.6)

<.001

Waiting time to first QDU visit/admission (days), mean (SD)g

 

1.7 (0.8)

1.8 (0.7)

1.7 (1.1)

0.6 (0.3)

<.001

Successive/first visit ratio

 

2.29

2.12

2.22

  

QDU time for diagnosis/admission time for diagnosis (days), mean (SD)h

 

16.8 (2.5)

15.4 (2.2)

16.2 (2.7)

12.3 (3.3)

<.001

Suspected/compatible lymphoma by FNAC, n (%)/total ni

611 (65.3)/935

302 (67.3)/449

201 (63.4)/317

503 (65.7)/766

108 (63.9)/169

.102

Time to FNAC (days), mean (SD)j

1.2 (0.9)

1.5 (0.8)

1.0 (0.5)

1.3 (0.9)

1.2 (0.6)

.183

Time to excisional biopsy (days), mean (SD)k

5.7 (1.7)

7.5 (1.6)

7.1 (1.4)

7.4 (1.8)

3.5 (1.1)

<.001

Onward referrals, n (%)

 Outpatient specialist clinics

1622 (94.4)

654 (95.1)

476 (96.0)

1130 (95.4)

492 (92.0)

.046

 Primary care

47 (2.7)

21 (3.1)

15 (3.0)

36 (3.0)

11 (2.1)

.169

 Palliative care

50 (2.9)

13 (1.9)

5 (1.0)

18 (1.5)

32 (6.0)

<.001

  1. Abbreviations: QDU (1) OPs cohort of outpatients from the quick diagnosis unit of the Hospital Clínic; QDU (2) OPs cohort of outpatients from the quick diagnosis unit of the Hospital of Bellvitge; Total OPs total number of outpatients from the quick diagnosis units of the Hospital Clínic and the Hospital of Bellvitge; IPs cohort of hospitalized patients of the Hospital Clínic; FNAC fine-needle aspiration cytology
  2. aLymphoma subtypes are not included; bSingle or combined; cMainly include intense tiredness, abnormal sweating at night, unintentional weight loss, nausea, and anorexia; dMainly abdominal pain; eMainly include shortness of breath, cough, and sore throat; fInclude, among others, pruritus, bowel symptoms, unusually thirsty, fever, and incidental findings on imaging studies; gIntervals between referral and first QDU appointment and hospital admission, respectively; hIntervals between first QDU visit/hospital admission and excisional biopsies; in (%)/total n: actual number and percentage of cases relative to the total number of available cases; jInterval between ordering FNAC and the procedure being done; kInterval between ordering biopsy and the procedure being done Missing data: variables ‘waiting time to first QDU visit’ (total OPs = 19), ‘waiting time to admission’ (IPs = 10), ‘time to FNAC’ (total OPs = 24, IPs = 16), ‘time to excisional biopsy’ (total OPs = 6, IPs = 4)
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BMC Cancer

ISSN: 1471-2407

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