Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27737995›Full record

ArticleCanadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien2016

Family physician access to and wait times for cancer diagnostic investigations: Regional differences among 3 provinces.

Andriana Barisic, Maxine Kish, Julie Gilbert, Nicole Mittmann, Rahim Moineddin, Jeffrey Sisler, Peter Vedsted, Eva Grunfeld

Abstract readComparative Study
PubMed Full text at PMC
In one paragraph

Article in Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–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

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  5. Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2016
    Article
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

8 authors.

Andriana BarisicSenior Research Associate for the Ontario Renal Network of Cancer Care Ontario in Toronto, Ont, and was with the Department of Prevention and Cancer Control at the time of manuscript development. andriana.barisic@renalnetwork.on.ca.
Maxine KishResearch Associate at Cancer Care Ontario and was a master's student in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Toronto.
Julie GilbertStaff scientist and Manager of Research and Evaluation at Cancer Care Ontario and Adjunct Professor in the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.
Nicole MittmannChief Research Officer at Cancer Care Ontario.
Rahim MoineddinProfessor and a senior biostatistician in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Jeffrey SislerChair of the College of Family Physicians of Canada's Cancer Care Program of the Section of Communities of Practice in Family Medicine and Vice-Dean of the Office of Continuing Competency and Assessment in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.
Peter VedstedProfessor in the Research Unit for General Practice in the Department of Public Health at Aarhus University in Denmark.
Eva GrunfeldGiblon Professor and Vice-Chair of Research in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and Director of Knowledge Translation Research in the Health Services Research Program at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo examine provincial and regional differences in FPs' direct access to cancer diagnostic investigations and advice from other specialists regarding investigations and referrals, and to explore FPs' perceptions about wait times for diagnostic investigations and receipt of results.

designA cross-sectional, online survey.

settingBritish Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario.

participantsA sample of FPs from participating provinces.

main outcome measuresDirect FP access to various diagnostic investigations and advice from other specialists regarding investigations and referrals; FPs' perceptions about wait times for diagnostic investigations ordered directly; and FPs' perceptions about wait times for results.

resultsA total of 1054 surveys were completed by FPs from British Columbia (n = 229), Manitoba (n = 228), and Ontario (n = 597). Distance from a cancer centre was not significantly associated with direct access to or wait times for diagnostic investigations for most of the investigations studied; however, provincial differences were observed. Family physicians in Manitoba and British Columbia were 30% to 45% less likely to report having direct access to endoscopy and some imaging investigations compared with FPs in Ontario. Family physicians in Manitoba and British Columbia were also at increased odds of waiting longer than 12 weeks for endoscopy investigations and longer than 4 weeks for imaging investigations compared with FPs in Ontario. Most FPs reported wait times of less than 2 weeks for imaging results; however, the proportion of FPs who waited longer than 2 weeks for colonoscopy results ranged from 15% in Ontario to 96% in British Columbia.

conclusionGiven the disparities observed among provinces, there is an opportunity for provinces to learn from one another to improve direct access to and shorten wait times for diagnostic investigations. This in turn has the potential to shorten the primary care interval for cancer diagnostic assessment.

Indexed as

Referral and ConsultationWaiting ListsBritish ColumbiaColonoscopyCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHealth Services AccessibilityHumansInternational CooperationLogistic ModelsMaleManitobaNeoplasmsOntarioPhysicians, FamilySurveys and Questionnaires

Identifiers

PMID27737995
PMCPMC5063786

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

None linked

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.