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Patient’s worry about cancer and the general practitioner’s suspicion of cancer or serious illness: A population‐based study in Denmark
Author(s) -
Virgilsen Line Flytkjær,
Jensen Henry,
Pedersen Anette Fischer,
Zalounina Falborg Alina,
Vedsted Peter
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
european journal of cancer care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1365-2354
pISSN - 0961-5423
DOI - 10.1111/ecc.13411
Subject(s) - worry , medicine , cancer , population , psychiatry , family medicine , anxiety , environmental health
Objective A general practitioner's (GP’s) suspicion of cancer is important to ensure early diagnosis of cancer. This study aimed to investigate the association between patients’ cancer worry and GP’s suspicion of cancer or serious illness. Methods This population‐based study was based on Danish register and questionnaire data from 4,175 incident cancer patients diagnosed in 2010 or 2016 and their GPs. The association between the patient's worry about cancer and their GP’s suspicion of cancer or serious illness was estimated by generalised linear models with log link for the Poisson family and presented in prevalence rate ratios (PRR). Results For 6 in 10 of the cases, the first consultation was categorised by absence of both or either patient worry or GP suspicion. When patients worried about cancer, the GPs were more likely to suspect cancer or serious illness in patients (PRR=1.26, (95%CI: 1.20–1.34)). For all levels of patient worry and most pronounced among very worried patients, GPs less often suspected cancer or serious illness in patients who presented with an ´intermediate´ or ´hard´ to diagnose cancer. Conclusion GPs were more likely to suspect cancer or serious illness in patients who worried about cancer at the first presentation.