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Table 1 Characteristics of patients with ‘symptoms only’ compared to patients with specific diagnoses

From: Symptoms as the main problem: a cross- sectional study of patient experience in primary care

 

Symptoms (n, %)

Specific diagnoses (n, %)

P-value

Number of patients, n (%)

796 (34.8)

1490 (65,2)

 

Gender, male, n (%)

275 (34.6)

582 (39.1)

0.034

Age, mean (SD)

53.2 (17.7)

54.8 (17.2)

0.036

Education

   

  ≤ 10 years

241 (31.0)

494 (33.8)

0,275*

 10–15 years

370 (47.6)

702 (48.1)

  > 15 years

166 (21.4)

264 (18.1)

Cohabiting (vs. single)

578 (72.6)

1113 (74.8)

0,286**

Physical functioning (SF-12, PCS), mean (SD)

44.5 (11.8)

44.1 (12.1)

0,437**

Mental functioning (SF-12, MCS), mean (SD)

48.0 (9.9)

48.6 (10.2)

0,137**

Illness worry

156 (20.1)

243 (16.7)

0.005**

GP assessments

   

 Chronic disorder

356 (44.7)

779 (52.3)

0.003**

 Final outcome expected to be ‘no disease’

362 (46.5)

272 (18.9)

<0.001**

  1. Notes
  2. *Wald test
  3. **Adjusted for patient age, gender and chronic disorders
  4. Numbers in bold indicate statistical significance