Patient’s worry about cancer and the general practitioner’s suspicion of cancer or serious illness: A population-based study in Denmark

Objective: A general practitioner's (GP’s) suspicion of cancer is important to ensure early diagnosis of cancer. This study aimed to investigate the association between patients’ cancer worry and GP’s suspicion of cancer or serious illness. Methods: This population-based study was based on Danish register and questionnaire data from 4,175 incident cancer patients diagnosed in 2010 or 2016 and their GPs. The association between the patient's worry about cancer and their GP’s suspicion of cancer or serious illness was estimated by generalised linear models with log link for the Poisson family and presented in prevalence rate ratios (PRR). Results: For 6 in 10 of the cases, the first consultation was categorised by absence of both or either patient worry or GP suspicion. When patients worried about cancer, the GPs were more likely to suspect cancer or serious illness in patients (PRR=1.26, (95%CI: 1.20–1.34)). For all levels of patient worry and most pronounced among very worried patients, GPs less often suspected cancer or serious illness in patients who presented with an ´intermediate´ or ´hard´ to diagnose cancer. Conclusion: GPs were more likely to suspect cancer or serious illness in patients who worried about cancer at the first presentation.