ArticleBMC health services research2013
Secondary care intervals before and after the introduction of urgent referral guidelines for suspected cancer in Denmark: a comparative before-after study.
Article in BMC health services research, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
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17 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Prognostic consequences of implementing cancer patient pathways in Denmark: a comparative cohort study of symptomatic cancer patients in primary care.BMC cancer · 2017Article
- Knowledge or noise? Making sense of General Practitioners' and Consultant use of 2-week-wait referrals for suspected cancer.British journal of cancer · 2017Article
- The Impact of Rurality and Disadvantage on the Diagnostic Interval for Breast Cancer in a Large Population-Based Study of 3202 Women in Queensland, Australia.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2016Article
- Tumour stage and implementation of standardised cancer patient pathways: a comparative cohort study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2016Article
- Routes to Diagnosis for Suspected Sarcoma: The Impact of Symptoms and Clinical Findings on the Diagnostic Process.Sarcoma · 2016Article
- Haptics-assisted Virtual Planning of Bone, Soft Tissue, and Vessels in Fibula Osteocutaneous Free Flaps.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2015Article
- A differentiated approach to referrals from general practice to support early cancer diagnosis - the Danish three-legged strategy.British journal of cancer · 2015Article
- Influence of comorbidity on cancer patients' rehabilitation needs, participation in rehabilitation activities and unmet needs: a population-based cohort study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2014Article
- Existing data sources for clinical epidemiology: Danish Cancer in Primary Care cohort.Clinical epidemiology · 2014Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUrgent referral for suspected cancer was implemented in Denmark on 1 April 2008 to reduce the secondary care interval (i.e. the time interval from the general practitioner's first referral of a patient to secondary health care until treatment is initiated). However, knowledge about the association between the secondary care interval and urgent referral remains scarce. The aim of this study was to analyse how the secondary care interval changed after the introduction of urgent referral.
methodsThis was a retrospective population-based study of 6,518 incident cancer patients based on questionnaire data from the patients' GPs. Analyses were stratified with patients discharged from Vejle Hospital in one stratum and patients from other hospitals in another because Vejle Hospital initiated urgent referrals several years prior to the national implementation. Further, analyses were stratified according to symptom presentation and whether or not the GP referred the patient on suspicion of cancer. Symptom presentation was defined as with or without alarm symptoms based on GP interpretation of early symptoms.
resultsThe median secondary care interval decreased after the introduction of urgent referral. Patients discharged from Vejle Hospital tended to have shorter secondary care intervals than patients discharged from other hospitals. The strongest effect was seen in patients with alarm symptoms and those who were referred by their GP on suspicion of cancer. Breast cancer patients from Vejle Hospital experienced an even shorter secondary care interval after the national introduction of urgent referrals.
conclusionUrgent referral had a positive effect on the secondary care interval, and Vejle Hospital remarkably managed to shorten the intervals even further. This finding indicates that the shorter secondary care intervals not only result from the urgent referral guidelines, but also involve other factors.
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