ArticleBMJ mental health2025
Emergency colon cancer diagnosis in people with mental health conditions: a population-based cohort study in northern Italy.
Article in BMJ mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Cancer Risk Prediction Using Machine Learning for Supporting Early Cancer Diagnosis in Symptomatic Patients: A Systematic Review of Model Types.Cancer medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Comparing Two Frailty Tools for the Prediction of Mortality in Older People Admitted to Hospital in Tanzania: A Prospective Cohort Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Eating Disorder Risk and Its Biobehavioural Correlates in Italian University Students: The UniFoodWaste Study.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Artificial Intelligence in the Management of Infectious Diseases in Older Adults: Diagnostic, Prognostic, and Therapeutic Applications.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- The Relationship Between Socio-Demographic and Behavioral Characteristics and Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet: The UniFoodWaste Study Among University Students in Italy.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIndividuals with mental health conditions may experience disparity in cancer diagnosis and health outcomes. This study aims to examine diagnostic pathways and mortality in patients with colon cancer with pre-existing mental health conditions.
methodsA population-based cohort study on colon cancer cases diagnosed in 2014-2020 in the provinces of Milan and Lodi, using linked cancer registration and health data. We examined cancer diagnostic pathways (screening, emergency presentation (EP), inpatient/outpatient visits) and short-term mortality in patients with and without pre-existing mental health conditions, accounting for physical comorbidities and sociodemographic factors. Mental health conditions were systematically categorised into distinct groups according to the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision.
resultsOut of 11 429 patients with colon cancer, 16.2% had a pre-existing mental health condition. Individuals with mental health conditions versus those without had a higher risk of cancer diagnosis following EP: 43.8% versus 33.8%, adjusted OR (aOR) 1.32, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.47. EP risk was higher for patients with diagnoses of dementia and related cognitive conditions (aOR 1.69, 95% CI 1.41 to 2.03), substance use/behavioural syndromes/personality-related conditions (aOR 1.92, 95% CI 1.34 to 2.75) and anxiety (aOR 1.44, 95% CI 1.16 to 1.79). The likelihood of screening-detected cancer was lower (4.6% vs 9.1%; aOR 0.78, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.99), especially for dementia and related cognitive conditions (aOR 0.27, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.86). Short-term mortality was higher in patients with cancer with mental health conditions than in those without.
conclusionMental health conditions were associated with a lower likelihood of screening and a higher risk of emergency cancer diagnosis. Tailored strategies are warranted to enhance cancer diagnosis for the non-negligible group of individuals with mental health conditions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.