A questionnaire was given to a series of 50 patients referred for colorectal cancer to the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology at Hvidovre Hospital, Copenhangen. The patients were asked about the length of the period from debut of symptoms to the first visit to their family doctor (patient's delay), detailed symptoms and their views and attitudes towards the significance of these symptoms. More than half of the patients first saw their own doctor more than three months after the first symptom: 17/33 (52%) with a change in bowel habits, 12/28 (43%) with rectal bleeding, 11/19 (58%) with abdominal pain and 4/6 (67%) with a palpable mass. Only 7/44 (15%) thought that cancer was the cause of their symptoms, and a similar minority was afraid of an operation or an ostomy. We conclude that the main cause of patient's delay is a lack of knowledge among the patients about the significance of bowel symptoms, rather than fear of cancer, operation or an ostomy. On this basis we recommend that an information campaign about cancer-related bowel symptoms (bleeding, change of bowel habits) should be carried out with the aim of reducing patient's delay and thereby possibly also improving the prognosis through an early diagnosis.
