Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39096087›Full record

ArticleCancer medicine2024

Income differences in time to colon cancer diagnosis.

Laura E Davis, Erin C Strumpf, Sunil V Patel, Alyson L Mahar

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cancer medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. A systematic review of factors associated with the patient and diagnostic intervals in gastric cancer.Gastric cancer : official journal of the International Gastric Cancer Association and the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Laura E DavisDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-5236-2703
Erin C StrumpfDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
Sunil V PatelDepartment of Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.
Alyson L MaharICES, Toronto, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-6862-3760

Funding

Canadian Cancer Society Emerging Scholar #707149Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC)Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS)
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionPeople with low income have worse outcomes throughout the cancer care continuum; however, little is known about income and the diagnostic interval. We described diagnostic pathways by neighborhood income and investigated the association between income and the diagnostic interval.

methodsThis was a retrospective cohort study of colon cancer patients diagnosed 2007-2019 in Ontario using routinely collected data. The diagnostic interval was defined as the number of days from the first colon cancer encounter to diagnosis. Asymptomatic pathways were defined as first encounter with a colonoscopy or guaiac fecal occult blood test not occurring in the emergency department and were examined separately from symptomatic pathways. Quantile regression was used to determine the association between neighborhood income quintile and the conditional 50th and 90th percentile diagnostic interval controlling for age, sex, rural residence, and year of diagnosis.

resultsA total of 64,303 colon cancer patients were included. Patients residing in the lowest income neighborhoods were more likely to be diagnosed through symptomatic pathways and in the emergency department. Living in low-income neighborhoods was associated with longer 50th and 90th-percentile symptomatic diagnostic intervals compared to patients living in the highest income neighborhoods. For example, the 90th percentile diagnostic interval was 15 days (95% CI 6-23) longer in patients living in the lowest income neighborhoods compared to the highest.

conclusionThese findings reveal income inequities during the diagnostic phase of colon cancer. Future work should determine pathways to reducing inequalities along the diagnostic interval and evaluate screening and diagnostic assessment programs from an equity perspective.

Indexed as

Colonic NeoplasmsIncomeAdultAgedAged, 80 and overColonoscopyEarly Detection of CancerFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedOccult BloodOntarioResidence CharacteristicsRetrospective StudiesTime Factorscolon cancerdiagnostic delaydiagnostic intervaldiagnostic pathwaysincomeinequalitiesinequitiesneoplasms

Identifiers

PMID39096087
PMCPMC11297540

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.