Table 1.

Characteristics of the 150 216 included Danish patients with cancer and the 1 502 114 matched controls

	Cancer patients		Cancer-free controls

	n	%	n	%
Total	150 216		1 502 114
COP 12 months before diagnosis	3147	2.1	24 962	1.7
COP 12 months after diagnosis	4020	2.7	24 334	1.6
Total COP^a	7167	4.8	49 296	3.3
Including 7 months before and 12 months after	6139	4.1	39 146	2.6

Sex
Male	73 663	49.0	736 597	49.0
Female	76 553	50.9	765 517	50.9

Age groups, years
18–44	14 217	9.5	141 717	9.4
45–54	19 225	12.8	191 501	12.8
55–64	40 393	26.9	403 736	26.9
65–74	44 069	29.3	442 322	29.5
≥75	32 312	21.5	322 838	21.5

Charlson Comorbidity Index score
None	119 183	79.3	1 200 715	79.9
Moderate	26 520	17.7	255 259	16.9
Severe	4513	3.0	46 140	3.1

Marital status
Cohabiting	102 472	68.2	1 016 036	67.6
Living alone	47 739	31.8	486 053	32.4

Household income
Low	48 735	32.4	502 041	33.4
Middle	50 695	33.8	500 082	33.3
High	50 786	33.8	499 991	33.3

Educational level
Basic	60 906	40.6	623 053	41.5
Short	57 328	38.2	562 280	37.4
Long	31 982	21.3	316 781	21.1

City size
Rural area	32 156	21.4	328 757	21.9
Small city	50 127	33.4	495 992	33.0
Medium city	27 558	18.4	274 922	18.3
Large city	40 375	26.9	402 443	26.8

Duration of GP–patient relationship, years
<5	39 445	26.3	392 588	26.1
5–9	25 668	17.1	256 146	17.1
≥10	85 103	56.7	853 380	56.8