SynthesisRadiation oncology (London, England)2012
Barriers to accessing radiation therapy in Canada: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Radiation oncology (London, England), 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Radiotherapy utilization in the last 30 days before death among patients with malignant neoplasms in Japan: a claims database study.International journal of clinical oncology · 2026Article
- Cancer Treatment Patterns Among Yukon Residents Referred to British Columbia for Care: A 13-Year Retrospective Study.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Article
- Population-based differences in cancer incidence between immigrants and non-immigrants in Canada between 1992 and 2015.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Barriers to cancer treatment for people experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage in high-income countries: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Choreographed expansion of services results in decreased patient burden without compromise of outcomes: An assessment of the Ontario experience.Neuro-oncology practice · 2024Article
- Review
- Article
- Barriers to cancer treatment and care for people experiencing structural vulnerability: a secondary analysis of ethnographic data.International journal for equity in health · 2023Article
- A population-based study of factors associated with systemic treatment in advanced prostate cancer decedents.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Consensus Statement Supporting the Presence of Onsite Radiation Oncology Departments at VHA Medical Centers.Federal practitioner : for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS · 2022Article
- Indirect costs associated with out-of-country referral for proton therapy: a survey of adult and pediatric patients in Alberta, Canada.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- Symptom burden among Northern Alberta radiotherapy patients with advanced cancer: mapping needs and gaps.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2020Article
- Association between waiting time for radiotherapy after surgery for early-stage breast cancer and survival outcomes in Ontario: a population-based outcomes study.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2020Article
- What do patients and health care professionals view as important attributes in radiotherapy decisions? Input for a breast cancer patient decision aid.Breast (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2020Article
- Physician And Patient Barriers To Radiotherapy Service Access: Treatment Referral Implications.Cancer management and research · 2019Article
- An Exploration of Underrepresentation of Aboriginal Cancer Patients Attending a Regional Radiotherapy Service in Western Australia.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
- Influence of the treatment schedule on the physicians' decisions to refer bone metastases patients for palliative radiotherapy: a questionnaire survey of physicians in various specialties.Nagoya journal of medical science · 2016Article
- Association Between Geographic Access to Cancer Care and Receipt of Radiation Therapy for Rectal Cancer.International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics · 2016Article
- Breast Cancer among Women Living in Poverty: Better Care in Canada than in the United States.Social work research · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionRadiation therapy (RT) is effective treatment for curing and palliating cancer, yet concern exists that not all Canadians for whom RT is indicated receive it. Many factors may contribute to suboptimal use of RT. A review of recent Canadian literature was undertaken to identify such barriers.
methodsMEDLINE, CINAHL, and EMBase databases were used to search keywords relating to barriers to accessing or utilizing RT in Canada. Collected abstracts were reviewed independently. Barriers identified in relevant articles were categorized as relating to the health systems, patient socio-demographic, patient factors, or provider factors contexts and thematic analysis performed for each context.
results535 unique abstracts were collected. 75 met inclusion criteria. 46 (61.3%) addressed multiple themes. The most cited barriers to accessing RT when indicated were patient age (n = 26, 34.7%), distance to treatment centre (n = 23, 30.7%), wait times (n = 22, 29.3%), and lack of physician understanding about the use of RT (n = 16, 21.6%).
conclusionsBarriers to RT are reported in many areas. The role of provider factors and the lack of attention to patient fears and mistrust as potential barriers were unexpected findings demanding further attention. Solutions should be sought to overcome identified barriers facilitating more effective cancer care for Canadians.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.