Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28403839›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2017

Transfer between hospitals as a predictor of delay in diagnosis and treatment of patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer - a register based cohort-study.

Maria Iachina, Erik Jakobsen, Anne Kudsk Fallesen, Anders Green

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing 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

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

  1. Pooled it
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  10. How long is too long? A scoping review of health system delays in lung cancer.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2018
    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

4 authors.

Maria IachinaCenter for Clinical Epidemiology and Research Unit of Clinical Epidemiology, Odense University Hospital, University of Southern Denmark, Sdr. Boulevard 29, Entrance 216, ground floor East, DK-5000, Odense C, Denmark. maria.iachina@rsyd.dk.
Erik JakobsenOPEN, Odense Patient data Exploratory Network, Odense University Hospital/Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
Anne Kudsk FallesenOPEN, Odense Patient data Exploratory Network, Odense University Hospital/Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
Anders GreenOPEN, Odense Patient data Exploratory Network, Odense University Hospital/Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLung cancer is the second most frequent cancer diagnosis in Denmark. Although improved during the last decade, the prognosis of lung cancer is still poor with an overall 5-year survival rate of approximately 12%. Delay in diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer has been suggested as a potential cause of the poor prognosis and as consequence, fast track cancer care pathways were implemented describing maximum acceptable time thresholds from referral to treatment. In Denmark, patients with lung cancer are often transferred between hospitals with diagnostic facilities to hospitals with treatment facilities during the care pathway. We wanted to investigate whether this organizational set-up influenced the time that patients wait for the diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, the objective of this study was to uncover the impact of transfer between hospitals on the delay in the diagnosis and treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).

methodsWe performed a historical prospective cohort study using data from the Danish Lung Cancer Registry (DLCR). All patients diagnosed with primary NSCLC from January 1st 2008 to December 31st 2012 were included. Patients with unresolved pathology and incomplete data on the dates of referral, diagnosis and treatment were excluded.

resultsA total of 11 273 patients were included for further analyses. Transfer patients waited longer for treatment after the diagnosis, (Hazard ratio (HR) 0.81 (0.68-0.96)) and in total time from referral to treatment (HR 0.84 (0.77-0.92)), than no-transfer patients. Transfer patients had lower odds of being diagnosed (Odds Ratio (OR) 0.82 (0.74-0.94) and treated (OR 0.66 (0.61-0.72) within the acceptable time thresholds described in the care pathway.

conclusionFast track cancer care pathways were implemented to unify and accelerate the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. We found that the transfer between hospitals during the care pathway might cause delay from diagnosis to treatment as well as in the total time from referral to treatment in patients with Non Small-Cell Lung Cancer. The difference between no-transfer and transfer patients persists after adjusting for known predictors of delay.

Indexed as

Patient TransferTime-to-TreatmentAgedCarcinoma, Non-Small-Cell LungDenmarkFemaleHospitalsHumansLung NeoplasmsMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesReferral and ConsultationRegistriesSurvival RateDiagnosisLung cancerTransferTreatment

Identifiers

PMID28403839
PMCPMC5389102

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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.