Delays (in months) in relation to clinical characteristics in patients treated for non-small cell lung cancer between 1995 and 1999 (n = 466)
| Symptom to treatment delay* | Hospital delay† | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median | 25–75% IQR | Median | 25–75% IQR | |
| IQR = interquartile range. | ||||
| *Time from onset of symptoms until start of treatment. | ||||
| †Time from first visit to chest physician at the hospital until start of treatment (significant differences in delay if p<0.05). | ||||
| ‡Significant difference in hospital delay. | ||||
| §Significant difference between patients with stage IV disease and those with stage I–II, IIIa and IIIb disease in a separate analysis for each group. | ||||
| ¶Significant difference in delay between patients with stage I–II and IIIB disease in both types of delay. | ||||
| **Significant differences in both types of delay. | ||||
| All patients | 4.6 | 3.0–7.1 | 1.6 | 0.9–2.4 |
| Sex | ||||
| Female | 4.6 | 3.2–6.8 | 1.5 | 1.0–2.6 |
| Male | 4.7 | 2.8–7.1 | 1.5 | 0.9–2.2 |
| Age‡ | ||||
| ⩽70 years | 4.7 | 2.5–6.9 | 1.5 | 0.9–2.1 |
| >70 years | 4.5 | 3.2–7.6 | 1.8 | 1.2–2.7 |
| Stage§,¶ | ||||
| I–II | 5.5 | 3.8–8.0 | 1.9 | 1.4–2.9 |
| IIIa | 5.1 | 3.1–7.7 | 1.8 | 1.1–3.0 |
| IIIb | 4.6 | 3.0–7.4 | 1.5 | 0.9–2.3 |
| IV | 3.4 | 2.0–4.8 | 1.2 | 0.7–2.0 |
| Histopathological type | ||||
| Squamous cell | 5.1 | 3.2–7.6 | 1.7 | 1.0–2.5 |
| Adenocarcinoma | 4.3 | 2.8–6.6 | 1.5 | 0.9–2.2 |
| Type of treatment** | ||||
| Surgery | 5.3 | 3.7–6.9 | 1.8 | 1.3–2.7 |
| Non-surgical | 4.2 | 2.6–7.1 | 1.4 | 0.8–2.3 |