RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The general practitioner-patient consultation pattern as a tool for cancer diagnosis in general practice.
JF British Journal of General Practice
JO Br J Gen Pract
FD British Journal of General Practice
SP 50
OP 52
VO 53
IS 486
A1 Nicholas Summerton
A1 Alan S Rigby
A1 Sara Mann
A1 A M Summerton
YR 2003
UL http://bjgp.org/content/53/486/50.abstract
AB A case-control study design was used to examine consultation patterns during the three years leading up to the diagnosis of an internal malignancy, within the context of the registered patient list of a single large general practice at Winterton, North Lincolnshire. Using a combination of matching, consultation subclassification, and conditional logistic regression, account was taken of the major confounders affecting consultation rates. Generally, the odds of cancer rose in tandem with increases in the average time between new consultations. This trend was significant for all breast cancers (at the 5% level) and persisted after adjustment for occupation, smoking, and marital status (P = 0.03), as well as after the exclusion of patients identified by routine screening (P = 0.05).