A Canadian study found that about 1 in 3 people newly diagnosed with cancer had visited an emergency department (ED) in the three months prior to their diagnosis.
Led by Dr. Keerat Grewal, the research revealed that many of these visits were due to symptoms related to the undiagnosed cancer.
For example, patients later diagnosed with colon cancer often had symptoms like abdominal pain and bowel obstruction, while those with gastroesophageal cancer experienced gastrointestinal bleeding and difficulty swallowing.
The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, analyzed data from over 650,000 cancer patients in Ontario between 2014 and 2021.
The findings showed that 35% of patients had visited the ED within the 90 days before being diagnosed, with 51% being admitted to the hospital.
The study also highlighted the challenges of receiving a suspected cancer diagnosis in the busy, often distressing environment of the ED.
These results are consistent with similar studies in the U.K. and the U.S.
