Tertiary Unit (n=80) Secondary Unit (n=58)
P value
Age (years), mean ± SD 65.23 ± 15.77 68.28 ± 15.96 0.1425
Sex, n (%) 0.0410
Female 36 (45.0) 31 (53.4)
Male 44 (55.0) 27 (46.6)
Referral departments & centers, n (%) <0.0001
Emergency department 52 (65.0) 9 (15.5)
Primary care 23 (28.8) 35 (60.3)
Outpatients clinics 4 (5.0) 12 (20.7)
Other 1 (1.3) 2 (3.4)
Indication for referral, n (%) 0.1311
Symptoms suggestive of cancer 55 (68.8) 37 (63.8)
Other symptoms 25 (31.3) 21 (36.2)
Time-to-diagnosis (days) 0.0586
Mean ± SD 9.52 ± 5.77 13.33 ± 14.81
Median [IQR] 7.5 [4.5-11] 8 [2-21]
Direct costs/patient (\euro), mean ± SD
Personnel 78.30 ± 19.01 46.55 ± 3.89 0.0493
Laboratory & Pathology 250.62 ± 117.43 122.56 ± 49.72 0.1103
Imaging & Endoscopy 453.04 ± 110.20 420.70 ± 141.12 0.8253
Biopsy & cytology techniques 61.16 ± 17.90 75.33 ± 51.86 0.4059
Specialist consultation & referral 9.03 ± 2.21 15.85 ± 6.44 0.2398
Structural costs/patient (\euro), mean ± SD 155.23 ± 68.39 138.58 ± 18.26 0.9072
Indirect costs/patient (\euro), mean ± SD 61.79 ± 29.30 15.37 ± 2.59 <0.0001
Total cost/patient (\euro), mean ± SD 1,069.17 ± 218.64 827.65 ± 151.83 0.0871