ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2012
Presenting symptoms of children with cancer: a primary-care population-based study.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed.
- Socioeconomic differences in primary healthcare use before childhood cancer diagnosis: a register-based cohort study in Sweden.BMJ paediatrics open · 2026Article
- International variation in child healthcare practices and implications for childhood cancer diagnosis: a scoping review and cross-country clinician survey.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Malignant and Benign Head and Neck Tumors of the Pediatric Age: A Narrative Review.Current pediatric reviews · 2025Review
- 'Never once was I thinking the c-word': Parent perspectives on the facilitators and barriers to getting a childhood cancer diagnosis.Journal of clinical nursing · 2023Article
- Socioeconomic position and prediagnostic health care contacts in children with cancer in Denmark: a nationwide register study.BMC cancer · 2021Article
- Parent's perspectives of the pathway to diagnosis of childhood cancer: a matter of diagnostic triage.BMC health services research · 2020Article
- Association of Self-reported Presenting Symptoms With Timeliness of Help-Seeking Among Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer in the BRIGHTLIGHT Study.JAMA network open · 2020Article
- Article
- Pneumonia diagnosis in childhood and incidence of leukaemia, lymphoma and brain cancer: a Danish nationwide cohort study.BMJ open · 2017Article
- Children with cancer: a survey on the experience of Italian primary care pediatricians.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2017Article
- Danish Childhood Cancer Registry.Clinical epidemiology · 2016Review
- Strategies to accelerate diagnosis of primary brain tumors at the primary-secondary care interface in children and adults.CNS oncology · 2013Article
- Risk of childhood cancer with symptoms in primary care: a population-based case-control study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2013Article
- Primary care of children: the unique role of GPs.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2012Article
- Evaluation of diagnostic interval in children with newly diagnosed paediatric cancers: A Cross-sectional study.Medical journal, Armed Forces IndiaArticle
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5 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundKnowledge of how children with cancer present in general practice is sparse. Timely referral from general practice is important to ensure early diagnosis.
aimTo investigate the presenting symptoms and GPs' interpretations of symptoms of children with cancer. DESIGN AND
settingA Danish nationwide population-based study including children (<15 years) with an incident cancer diagnosis (January 2007 to December 2010).
methodA questionnaire on symptoms and their interpretation was mailed to GPs (n=363). Symptoms were classified according to the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC)-2 classification.
resultsGPs' response rate was 87% (315/363) and GPs were involved in the diagnostic process of 253 (80.3%) children. Symptoms were few (2.4 per child) and most fell into the category 'general and unspecified' (71.9%), apart from patients with tumours of the central nervous system (CNS), whose symptoms fell mostly in the category 'neurological' (for example, headache). Symptoms like pain, swelling/lump, or fatigue were reported in 25% of the patients and they were the most commonly reported symptoms. GPs interpreted children's symptoms as alarm symptoms in 20.2%, as serious (that is, not alarm) symptoms in 52.9%, and as vague symptoms in 26.9%. GPs' interpretation varied significantly by diagnosis (P<0.001).
conclusionChildren with cancer presented with few symptoms in general practice, of which most were 'general and unspecified' symptoms. Only 20% presented alarm symptoms, while 27% presented vague and non-specific symptoms. This low level of alarm symptoms may influence the time from symptom presentation in general practice to final diagnosis.
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