Evidence map›Paper›PMID 19840368›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2009

Patient delay in cancer studies: a discussion of methods and measures.

Rikke Sand Andersen, Peter Vedsted, Frede Olesen, Flemming Bro, Jens Søndergaard

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 67 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
67citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

67 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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7 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Rikke Sand AndersenThe Research Unit for General Practice, Institute of Public Health, University of Aarhus, Bartholins Allé 2, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. rsa@alm.au.dk
Peter Vedsted
Frede Olesen
Flemming Bro
Jens Søndergaard

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is no validated way of measuring the prevalence and duration of patient delay, and we do not know how people perceive and define the time intervals they are asked to report in patient delay studies. This lack of a validated measure hampers research in patient delay and is counterproductive to efforts directed at securing early diagnosis of cancer. DISCUSSION: The main argument of the present paper is that current studies on patient delay do not sufficiently consider existing theories on symptom interpretation. It is illustrated that the interpretation of bodily sensations as symptoms related to a specific cancer diagnosis is embedded within a social and cultural context. We therefore cannot assume that respondents define delay periods in identical ways. SUMMARY: In order to improve the validity of patient delay studies, it is suggested that research be strengthened on three counts: More research should be devoted to symptom interpretation processes, more research should seek to operationalise patient delay, and, importantly, more research is needed to develop valid instruments for measuring patient delay.

Indexed as

NeoplasmsPatient Acceptance of Health CareCultureHumansInterviews as TopicPersonal Construct TheoryResearch DesignSurveys and QuestionnairesTime Factors

Identifiers

PMID19840368
PMCPMC2770466

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.