Routes to cancer diagnosis for patients with pre-existing psychiatric disorders: a nationwide register-based cohort study

BACKGROUND: Poor cancer prognosis has been observed in patients with pre-existing psychiatric disorders. Therefore, we need better knowledge about the diagnosis of cancer in this patient group. The aim of the study was to describe the routes to cancer diagnosis in patients with pre-existing psychiatric disorders and to analyse how cancer type modified the routes. METHODS: A register-based cohort study was conducted by including patients diagnosed with incident cancer in 2014–2018 (n = 155,851). Information on pre-existing psychiatric disorders was obtained from register data on hospital contacts and prescription medication. Multinomial regression models with marginal means expressed as probabilities were used to assess the association between pre-existing psychiatric disorders and routes to diagnosis. RESULTS: Compared to patients with no psychiatric disorders, the population with a psychiatric disorder had an 8.0% lower probability of being diagnosed through cancer patient pathways initiated in primary care and a 7.6% higher probability of being diagnosed through unplanned admissions. Patients with pre-existing psychiatric disorders diagnosed with rectal, colon, pancreatic, liver or lung cancer and patients with schizophrenia and organic disorders were less often diagnosed through cancer patient pathways initiated in primary care. CONCLUSION: Patients with pre-existing psychiatric disorders were less likely to be diagnosed through Cancer Patient Pathways from primary care. To some extent, this was more pronounced among patients with cancer types that often present with vague or unspecific symptoms and among patients with severe psychiatric disorders. Targeting the routes by which patients with psychiatric disorders are diagnosed, may be one way to improve the prognosis among this group of patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09598-x.