One-Third of Ontario Cancer Patients Visit Emergency Room Before Diagnosis

A new study reveals that one-third of Ontario cancer patients have visited the emergency room at least once within 90 days before diagnosis and are more likely to have certain types of cancer, be older and live in rural and disadvantaged areas.

Study Findings

The study, led by Dr. Kirat Grewal, an emergency room physician at the Schwarz/Riceman Institute of Emergency Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, analyzed data from 651,071 people aged 18 and older in Ontario who had been diagnosed with cancer over a period of seven years.

Key findings include:

• 35% of patients had visited the emergency room at least once in the 90 days before diagnosis.
• Half of these patients had to be hospitalized.
• Certain types of cancer, such as brain, pancreatic, liver, gallbladder, and chest cancer, were more likely to be diagnosed after an emergency room visit.

Early Diagnosis and Access to Care

The researchers suggest that increased access to breast cancer screening may contribute to earlier diagnosis and reduced emergency room visits for breast cancer patients.

However, patients from disadvantaged communities and ethnic minority groups were more likely to visit the emergency department before diagnosis, highlighting inequalities in the healthcare system.

Systemic Issues and Healthcare Inequalities

The study’s findings indicate that a combination of factors, including access to primary care, specialists, and outpatient diagnostics, may contribute to the increased use of emergency rooms by disadvantaged groups and older adults.

Dr. Grewal notes that the shortage of family doctors in Ontario, with approximately 2.3 million people without a family doctor, may also play a role in the trend of emergency room cancer diagnoses.