Use of faecal immunochemical tests common in patients with suspected colorectal cancer but unrelated to travel distance to secondary care: a population-based study from Swedish primary care

Figures & data

Figure 1. Number of listed patients and FITs provided in the different regions.

Table 1. Characteristics of the five regions included in the study.

Region	Primary care centres, n	Listed patients, n	Patients listed/PCC, n, median (min–max [IQR])	Patients that provided FITs, n	Sex of patients that provided FITs, female, %	Age of patients that provided FITs, years, median [IQR]	Driving time from each PCC to referral hospital, minutes, median (min–max [IQR])
Jämtland Härjedalen	27	127,275	3662 (786–15,249 [1523–5828])	1948	61.4	67 [51–76]	52 (3–166 [20–76])
Kronoberg	31	190,488	4576 (1642–13,228 [3322–9941])	3144	58.8	65 [49–76]	19 (1–55 [5–35])
Västerbotten	34	240,318	5084 (1562–19,082 [3504–9506])	4072	60.5	64 [47–76]	24 (2–160 [6–52])
Västernorrland	32	243,682	6958 (1268–17,257 [4486–9753])	4066	61.9	66 [50–75]	17 (2–72 [8–35])
Örebro	29	290,960	9750 (3249–21,068 [7044–12,128])	5683	59.9	64 [45–76]	10 (3–56 [7–25])
Total	153	1,092,723	6222 (786–21,068 [3719–9942])	18,913	60.4	65 [48–75]	21 (1–166 [8–42])

FIT: faecal immunochemical test; PCC: primary care centre; IQR: interquartile range.

Table 2. Number of patients that provided FITs in each region during 2015, stratified for age groups.

	All ages			0–64 years			65–79 years			≥80 years
Region	Listed patients, n	FITS, n	FITs % of listed (CI)	Listed patients 0–64 years, n (% of all ages)	FITs, n	FITs % of listed (CI)	Listed patients 65–79 years n (% of all ages)	FITs, n	FITs % of listed (CI)	Listed patients ≥80 years, n (% of all ages)	FITs, n	FITs % of listed (CI)
Jämtland Härjedalen	127,275	1948	1.5 (1.5–1.6)	97,941 (77.0)	846	0.86 (0.81–0.92)	21,595 (17.0)	786	3.6 (3.4–3.9)	7739 (6.1)	316	4.1 (3.7–4.5)
Kronoberg	190,488	3144	1.7 (1.6–1.7)	150,002 (78.7)	1521	1.0 (1.0–1.01)	29,083 (15.3)	1085	3.7 (3.5–4.0)	11,403 (6.0)	538	4.7 (4.3–5.1)
Västerbotten	240,318	4072	1.7 (1.6–1.7)	190,978 (79.5)	2064	1.1 (1.0–1.1)	36,213 (15.1)	1350	3.7 (3.5–3.9)	13,122 (5.5)	658	5.0 (4.7–5.4)
Västernorrland	243,682	4066	1.7 (1.6–1.7)	185,961 (76.3)	1907	1.0 (1.0–1.1)	42,748 (17.5)	1590	3.7 (3.5–3.9)	14,973 (6.1)	569	3.8 (3.5–4.1)
Örebro	290,960	5683	2.0 (1.9–2.0)	229,228 (78.8)	2854	1.2 (1.2–1.3)	46,148 (15.9)	1876	4.1 (3.9–4.2)	15,584 (5.4)	953	6.1 (5.8–6.5)
Total	1,092,723	18,913	1.7 (1.7–1.8)	854,110	9192	1.1 (1.1–1.1)	175,787	6687	3.8 (3.7–3.9)	62,821	3 034	4.8 (4.7–5.0)

FIT: faecal immunochemical test; CI: 95% confidence interval.

Figure 2. Patients’ driving times from their primary care centres to their hospital for referral, stratified for ages and the five regions.

Table 3. Number of patients that provided FITs at primary care centres, grouped for driving times to specialist care and stratified for age groups.

		All ages	<65 years			65–79 years			≥80 years
Driving time	Primary care centres, n	Listed patients, n	Listed patients, n (% of all ages)	FITs, n	FITs % of listed (CI)	Listed patients, n (% of all ages)	FITs, n	FITs % of listed (CI)	Listed patients, n (% of all ages)	FITs, n	FITs % of listed (CI)
0–15 min	63	639,997	515,754 (80.6)	5688	1.1 (1.1–1.1)	92,054 (14.4)	3630	3.9 (3.8–4.1)	32,185 (5.0)	1598	5.0 (4.7–5.2)
16–30 min	28	181,295	139,593 (77.0)	1287	0.92 (0.87–0.97)	31,375 (17.3)	1109	3.5 (3.3–3.7)	10,327 (5.7)	499	4.8 (4.4–5.3)
31–45 min	23	112,866	82,756 (73.3)	970	1.2 (1.1–1.2)	22,003 (19.5)	796	3.6 (3.4–3.9)	8106 (7.2)	388	4.8 (4.3–5.3)
46–60 min	15	60,905	44,990 (73.9)	442	0.98 (0.90–1.08)	11,263 (18.5)	417	3.7 (3.4–4.1)	4652 (7.6)	219	4.7 (4.1–5.4)
61–120 min	15	49,245	36,096 (73.3)	376	1.0 (0.94–1.15)	9357 (19.0)	370	4.0 (3.6–4.4)	3792 (7.7)	193	5.1 (4.4–5.8)
>120 min	4	10,281	7387 (71.9)	53	0.72 (0.55–0.94)	2054 (20.0)	60	2.9 (2.3–3.7)	840 (8.2)	23	2.7 (1.8–4.1)
All driving times	148	1,054,589	826,576 (78.4)	8816	1.1 (1.0–1.1)	168,106 (15.9)	6382	3.8 (3.7–3.9)	59,902 (5.7)	2920	4.9 (4.7–5.1)

FIT: faecal immunochemical test. CI: 95% confidence interval.