Variables associated with less timely care in lung cancer
| Variable | Effect size |
| Younger age34 | Patients aged >70 years were 9% more likely to have surgery within 2 weeks of diagnosis than patients age <70 years (OR 1.09, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.17)* |
| Teaching hospital34 | Patients were 30% less likely to have surgery within 2 weeks of diagnosis in a teaching hospital than in a non-teaching hospital (OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.74)* |
| Curative vs palliative radiotherapy36 | Median 28-day wait for radiotherapy for distant disease compared with median 49-day wait for radiotherapy for limited disease† |
| Initial referral to a non-respiratory physician54 | Median 35-day wait for bronchoscopy for patients initially referred to a non-respiratory physician compared with median 7-day wait for all patients |
| Increasing number of diagnostic tests needed to achieve a diagnosis7 45 46 | Median GP referral to treatment interval was 44 days (range 37–60) for patients with diagnosis established on initial bronchoscopy compared with 80 days (range 54–107) for patients requiring additional procedures (p<0.01)†45 |
| Multiple hospitals required to obtain appropriate diagnostic tests and/or treatment34 57 | Mean wait time 31.6 days for patients requiring transfer to another hospital for treatment compared with 25.9 days for patients diagnosed and treated at the same facility*34 |
| Age >70 years35 | Patients aged >70 years had a 13% increase in median wait time for surgery compared with younger patients† |
| ⩾1 co-morbidity17 35 | Patients with ⩾1 co-morbidity had a 7% increase in median wait time to surgery compared with patients without co-morbidities† |
| Atypical symptoms at presentation42 49 | Median 29 days for patients presenting with respiratory symptoms versus 104 days for patients with non-specific symptoms49Median time from onset of pain to diagnosis was 150 days for patients with superior sulcus tumours42 |
*Multivariate analysis. †Univariate analysis.