Table 3 Univariate/multivariate analyses of factors associated with participant-defined first symptoms until consultation with medical practitioner

Categorical variables		No	Univariate analysis		Multivariate analysis*
Categorical variables		No	Geometric mean(95% transformed CI)	p Value	Regression coefficient antilog†(95% CI)	p Value
First symptoms experienced
Cough	No	265	17.8 (14.6 to 21.7)	0.147
	Yes	68	23.9 (17.9 to 32.2)
Change in cough	No	315	17.8 (15.0 to 21.1)	0.021
	Yes	18	42.7 (21.8 to 83.4)
Loss of appetite	No	277	20.0 (16.6 to 24.0)	0.176
	Yes	56	14.5 (9.8 to 21.4)

Co-morbidities
History of asthma	No	300	19.5 (16.4 to 23.2)	0.148
	Yes	33	12.9 (7.1 to 23.2)
History of chest infection	No	298	19.5 (16.3 to 23.3)	0.066
	Yes	21	10.2 (5.6 to 18.7)
History IHD, stroke, heart failure	No	250	22.4 (18.6 to 26.9)	0.001	1.00
	Yes	83	11.0 (7.5 to 16.1)		0.57 (0.38 to 0.83)	0.005
History of hepatic disease	No	297	19.5 (16.4 to 23.2)	0.097
	Yes	22	11.0 (5.0 to 24.1)
History of upper GI disease	No	226	17.0 (13.9 to 20.8)	0.116	1.00
	Yes	93	22.9 (16.5 to 31.8)		1.62 (1.12 to 2.40)	0.012
History of renal failure	No	304	19.1 (16.0 to 22.7)	0.151
	Yes	15	10.7 (4.4 to 26.3)
History of alcohol/drug misuse	No	281	19.5 (16.3 to 23.4)	0.149
	Yes	38	13.2 (7.7 to 22.5)

Demographic/socioeconomic
Sex	Male	195	17.0 (13.6 to 21.2)	0.160	0.70 (0.49 to 0.98)	0.045
	Female	138	21.4 (16.5 to 27.7)		1.00
Area	North-east Scotland	174	21.9 (17.6 to 27.1)	0.069	1.00	0.445
	Glasgow	159	15.9 (12.2 to 20.5)		0.84 (0.54 to 1.32)
Carstairs (deprived) score in quintiles	1 (least	58	21.4 (13.9 to 33.0)	0.482	1.00 (0.85 to 1.17)‡	0.986
Carstairs (deprived) score in quintiles	2	70	22.4 (15.9 to 31.6)
	3	48	20.4 (13.3 to 31.4)
	4	40	14.1 (8.8 to 22.6)
	5 (most)	117	16.6 (12.4 to 22.1)
Distance between cancer centre and participant postcode address (quintiles)	1 (nearest)	65	18.6 (12.9 to 26.9)	0.532		0.557
	2	68	15.1 (10.3 to 22.3)		1.04 (0.89 to 1.20)‡
	3	68	18.2 (12.2 to 27.1)
	4	65	18.2 (12.2 to 27.1)
	5 (furthest)	67	24.5 (18.1 to 33.2)
GP consulting/relationship:
Before your diagnosis, how many times a year did you see your GP	None	62	33.1 (22.8 to 48.1)	0.004	1.00
	Once	135	19.1 (14.4 to 25.2)		0.60 (0.37 to 0.95)	0.028
	3–4 times	68	15.8 (11.5 to 21.8)		0.47 (0.27 to 0.81)	0.007
	5+ times	68	12.9 (9.0 to 18.5)		0.41 (0.23 to 0.72)	0.002
What would you do if you were not happy with the quality of service your GP practice provides?	Do nothing	62	20.9 (14.1 to 30.9)	0.037
	Complain to GP	105	20.4 (15.3 to 27.2)
	Complain to higher authority	17	46.8 (23.0 to 95.3)
	Change GP practice	91	16.6 (12.0 to 22.9)
	Don’t know	58	13.2 (8.8 to 19.8)
Do you know your usual GP away from the surgery?	Not at all/not very well	273	17.4 (14.4 to 20.9)	0.049
Do you know your usual GP away from the surgery?	Fairly/very/extremely well	38	29.5 (19.2 to 45.5)

Smoking history:
Are you a smoker?	Never smoker	14	33.9 (15.7 to 73.3)	0.126
	Current smoker	102	15.1 (11.3 to 20.3)
	Ex-smoker	217	20.0 (16.2 to 24.6)

Symptom knowledge
Knowledge of lung cancer symptoms before diagnosis	Nothing	248	16.9 (13.9 to 20.7)	0.006	1.00
	A little	60	20.4 (13.8 to 30.2)		1.07 (0.69 to 1.66)	0.758
	Quite a lot/everything	24	47.9 (33.4 to 68.6)		2.43 (1.26 to 4.79)	0.009

Continuous variables			Correlation coefficient	p Value	B	p Value
Age	Per year	333	−0.015	0.791	1.01 (0.98 to 1.02)	0.392
Travelling distance to GP	Per mile	333	0.096	0.079

*Model included those categorical and continuous variables that were significant on univariate analyses at the p⩽0.20 level.
†The regression coefficient antilog can be interpreted as (1) for categorical factors: the number of times longer for particular groups to consult with a medical practitioner; and (2) for continuous factors: the proportionate change in time to consult per unit increase.
‡Linear trend across categories.
GP, general practitioner; GI, gastrointestinal; IHD, ischaemic heart disease.