A survey of cancer patients in general practice.
A study of cancer patients in general practice was carried out in a defined and limited population of 29,420 inhabitants with a known occurrence of malignancy. A cancer patient was defined as a person who had ever been diagnosed as having a malignancy. Out of 553 cancer patients living in the study area 257 (46.5%) were seen by the general practitioner during a two-month period. Cancer patients accounted for 3.9% of all encounters and the calculated yearly contact rate for these patients was more than twice that for other patients (4.3 contacts per year against 2.1). One-third of the cancer patients were not recognized as having a malignancy by the doctor, and only 1.3% of all encounters were caused by or partly caused by cancer. The diagnostic distribution of cancers among these patients correlated with the prevalence in the population, with two exceptions: gastrointestinal cancer was over-represented and skin cancer was under-represented.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D009664:Norway; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care