Figures (0)  Tables (4)
    • Variables N (%)/$ \overline x \pm s $/
      M (Q1, Q3)
      Age (years) 52.79 ± 10.7
      Gender
      Male 149 (46.86%)
      Female 169 (53.14%)
      Educational level
      Primary school and below 36 (11.32%)
      Junior high school 165 (51.89%)
      Senior high school and above 117 (36.79%)
      Occupations
      Government staff/technical personnel/military personnel 79 (24.84%)
      Service staff and workers 129 (40.57%)
      Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and others 110 (34.59%)
      Medical insurance
      Full self-payment and others 32 (10.06%)
      Employee medical insurance and commercial insurance 116 (36.48%)
      Urban resident medical insurance and new rural cooperative medical insurance 159 (50.00%)
      Public-funded medical insurance 11 (3.46%)
      Place of residence
      City 92 (28.93%)
      County town 69 (21.7%)
      Township and rural area 157 (49.37%)
      Pathological stage
      Stage II 38 (11.95%)
      Stage III 76 (23.9%)
      Stage IV 109 (34.28%)
      Stage V 95 (29.87%)
      Smoking status
      Non smoker 118 (37.11%)
      Occasional smoker 69 (21.7%)
      Regular smoker 46 (14.47%)
      Former smoker 85 (26.73%)
      Drinking status
      Non drinker 124 (38.99%)
      Occasional drinker 90 (28.3%)
      Regular drinker 25 (7.86%)
      Former drinker 79 (24.84%)
      Family history
      Yes 31 (9.75%)
      No 287 (90.25%)
      Awareness of own hepatitis B status
      Yes (aware of having hepatitis B) 210 (66.04%)
      No (unaware of having hepatitis B) 108 (33.96%)
      Physical examination type
      Unit-organized physical examination 61 (22.1%)
      Self-initiated physical examination 215 (77.9%)
      Physical examination frequency
      None 60 (18.87%)
      Occasional 129 (40.57%)
      Once a year 119 (37.42%)
      Multiple times a year 10 (3.14%)
      Inclusion of liver cancer-related items (in physical examination)
      Not included 237 (74.53%)
      Included 81 (25.47%)
      Presentation delay duration 1.30 (0.39, 4.00)
      Presentation delay duration (months)
      < 1 21 (6.6%)
      1 ≤ delay duration ≤ 3 191 (60.06%)
      3 < delay duration ≤ 6 75 (23.58%)
      6 < delay duration ≤ 12 17 (5.35%)
      12 < delay duration ≤ 24 11 (3.46%)
      > 24 3 (0.94%)

      Table 1. 

      Baseline data of liver cancer patients.

    • Causes of presentation delay Number of cases Percentage
      Poor economic status 107 34%
      Insidious symptoms (e.g., abdominal distension, abdominal pain) with insufficient attention 49 15%
      Perception that the condition was not serious 66 21%
      Being too busy 37 12%
      Fear of diagnostic results 59 18%

      Table 2. 

      Causes of presentation delay.

    • Characteristic Number of cases Duration of delay
      in presentation
      (months, median [IQR])      		 H value p
      Gender 0.005 0.946
      Male 149 1.10 (0.43, 3.40)
      Female 169 1.57 (0.32, 4.10)
      Educational level 11.711 0.003
      Primary school and below 36 3.12 (0.93, 8.89)
      Junior high school 165 1.77 (0.43, 3.88)
      Senior high school and above 117 1.03 (0.30, 3.13)
      Occupations 5.819 0.050
      Government staff/technical personnel/military personnel 79 1.03 (0.17, 3.97)
      Service staff and workers 129 1.27 (0.37, 3.05)
      Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and others 110 1.82 (0.59, 4.11)
      Medical insurance 2.772 0.428
      Full self-payment and others 32 1.03 (0.38, 4.89)
      Employee medical insurance and commercial insurance 116 1.53 (0.43, 4.19)
      Urban resident medical insurance and new rural cooperative medical insurance 159 1.13 (0.33, 3.20)
      Publicly funded medical insurance 11 4.00 (1.03,4.13)
      Place of residence 11.005 0.004
      City 92 1.00 (0.18, 3.00)
      County town 69 1.03 (0.40, 3.33)
      Township and rural area 157 1.93 (0.67, 4.17)
      Pathological stage 4.016 0.119
      Stage II 38 0.73 (0.19, 3.58)
      Stage III 76 1.92 (0.43, 3.73)
      Stage IV 109 1.60 (0.42, 4.10)
      Stage V 95 1.50 (0.50, 4.30)
      Smoking status 4.940 0.176
      Non smoker 118 1.18 (0.43, 4.08)
      Occasional smoker 69 1.60 (0.43, 3.83)
      Regular smoker 46 2.13 (0.43, 4.42)
      Former smoker 85 1.03 (0.32, 3.00)
      Drinking status 4.063 0.255
      Non drinker 124 1.03 (0.41, 3.12)
      Occasional drinker 90 1.73 (0.33, 4.31)
      Regular drinker 25 2.50 (1.02, 4.32)
      Former drinker 79 1.33 (0.33, 3.73)
      Family history 1.722 0.189
      Yes 31 1.03 (0.17, 2.77)
      No 287 1.37 (0.43, 4.00)
      Awareness of own hepatitis B status 0.017 0.897
      Yes (aware of having hepatitis B) 210 1.63 (0.39, 3.87)
      No (unaware of having hepatitis B) 108 1.03 (0.38, 4.10)

      Table 3. 

      Presentation delay duration in liver cancer patients with different baseline characteristics.

    • Independent variable β Standard error (SE) Standardized regression coefficient t-value p
      Constant 4.940 0.847 − 5.830 < 0.001
      Educational level (with 'primary school or below' as the reference) − − − − −
      Junior high school −3.067 0.710 −0.381 −4.321 < 0.001
      Senior high school and above −3.822 0.738 −0.459 −5.810 < 0.001
      Occupations (with 'government staff/technical personnel/military personnel' as the reference) − − − − −
      Service staff and workers −0.083 0.546 −0.010 −0.151 0.880
      Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and others 0.930 0.579 0.110 1.604 0.110
      Place of residence (with 'city' as the reference) − − − − −
      County town −0.004 0.615 0.001 −0.006 0.995
      Township and rural area 0.979 0.516 0.122 1.898 0.059

      Table 4. 

      Multiple linear regression analysis of the factors possibly associated with delayed presentation in liver cancer patients.