Table 2

Comparison of attribution and symptom/s that triggered help-seeking between participants with the shortest and longest quartile in the interval from first noticing a symptom to first presentation (ordered by first TTP)

TTP (days)	Sex	Age	Smoking status	Comorbidity	Dyspnoea	Haemoptysis	Dry cough	Productive cough	Chest pain	Back pain	Tightness in chest	Increased tiredness	Initial patient attribution	Lung cancer
Time between noticing a system and seeking help—shortest quartile
2	F	45–49	Never	Asthma, IBS	●			○					Sinus infection
7	M	65–69	Never	Arthritis						●			Gallstones
7	F	80–84	Ex	–	●								Flu
7	F	65–69	Ex	–	○		●				●		Chest infection	✓
14	F	50–54	Ex	Anxiety depression				●					Chest infection
14	M	70–74	Ex	–	●								Getting older	✓
15	F	55–59	Current	–		●		●					Chest infection
21	M	65–69	Ex	–						●			Muscle pain	✓
Time between noticing a symptom and seeking help—longest quartile
49	M	80–84	Current	–	●	○							Getting older	✓
49	M	60–64	Ex	–					●				Muscle pain	✓
60	F	55–59	Never	–			●						Allergy
58	M	60–64	Ex	–	●								Over exertion	✓
60	M	55–59	Current	–	●					○			Cardiac problems
120	F	40–44	Never	–	○		●				○	○	Chest infection
150	M	65–69	Ex	Heart disease				●				○	Cancer	✓
180	M	80–04	Ex	Heart disease, diabetes		●							Asbestos in lung

● Indicates symptom/s that triggered help-seeking. ○ Indicates symptom/s reported that did not trigger help-seeking.
F, female; M, male; IBS, irritable bowel syndrome; TTP, time to presentation.