Tertiary Unit (n=135) Secondary Unit (n=106)
P value
Age (years), mean ± SD 64.34 ± 13.60 62.24 ± 19.71 0.1163
Sex, n (%) 0.2349
Female 61 (45.2) 51 (48.1)
Male 74 (54.8) 55 (51.9)
Referral departments & centers, n (%) <0.0001
Emergency department 88 (65.2) 17 (16.0)
Primary care 39 (28.9) 63 (59.4)
Outpatients clinics 8 (5.9) 23 (21.7)
Other 0 (0.0) 3 (2.8)
Final diagnosis, n (%) 0.0499
Malignancy 55 (40.7) 37 (34.9)
Non-malignant disease 80 (59.3) 69 (65.1)
Time-to-diagnosis (days) 0.0001
Mean ± SD 10.22 ± 6.03 19.53 ± 26.12
Median [IQR] 7 [5-9] 12 [5.00-25.75]
Direct costs/patient (\euro), mean ± SD
Personnel 76.50 ± 18.37 43.16 ± 4.34 0.0375
Laboratory & Pathology 243.55 ± 120.45 119.10 ± 42.62 0.0683
Imaging & Endoscopy 311.65 ± 93.12 289.40 ± 108.71 0.7759
Biopsy & cytology techniques 36.24 ± 12.18 42.37 ± 35.20 0.8344
Specialist consultation & referral 6.70 ± 2.53 11.76 ± 5.80 0.1520
Structural costs/patient (\euro), mean ± SD 48.22 ± 15.78 43.05 ± 16.55 0.9315
Indirect costs/patient (\euro), mean ± SD 59.66 ± 21.13 14.84 ± 2.38 <0.0001
Total cost/patient (\euro), mean ± SD 782.52 ± 191.56 562.21 ± 94.55 0.0537