Observational studyBMC family practice2020
Patient's travel distance to specialised cancer diagnostics and the association with the general practitioner's diagnostic strategy and satisfaction with the access to diagnostic procedures: an observational study in Denmark.
Observational study in BMC family practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Simulation study on the regionalization of esophagectomy using data from 27,476 patients in Japan.Esophagus : official journal of the Japan Esophageal Society · 2026Article
- Geospatial Insights into Healthcare Accessibility in Europe: A Scoping Review of GIS Applications.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- GP referral to rapid diagnostic centres for non-specific cancer symptoms: a qualitative study.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Spatial Analysis of Travel Distances for Persons with Common Cancers Seeking Care at a Tertiary Care Facility in South India: An Operational Research.Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP · 2025Article
- Impact of Location of Residence and Distance to Cancer Centre on Medical Oncology Consultation and Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Triple-Negative and HER2-Positive Breast Cancer.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2024Article
- Impact of merging two university hospitals on surgical outcome after esophagogastric and hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery: Results from a retrospective study.Surgery open science · 2023Article
- Use of faecal immunochemical tests common in patients with suspected colorectal cancer but unrelated to travel distance to secondary care: a population-based study from Swedish primary care.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2022Article
- Population-based study on coverage and healthcare processes for cancer during implementation of national healthcare insurance in Indonesia.The Lancet regional health. Southeast Asia · 2022Article
- [Treatment in Certified Centres (DKG): Decision Factors of Lung Cancer Patients].Pneumologie (Stuttgart, Germany) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundResearch indicate that when general practitioners (GPs) refer their patients for specialist care, the patient often has long distance. This study had a twofold aim: in accordance to the GP's suspicion of cancer, we investigated the association between: 1) cancer patient's travel distance to the first specialised diagnostic facility and the GP's diagnostic strategy and 2) cancer patient's travel distance to the first specialised diagnostic facility and satisfaction with the waiting time and the availability of diagnostic investigations.
methodThis combined questionnaire- and registry-based study included incident cancer patients diagnosed in the last 6 months of 2016 where the GP had been involved in the diagnostic process of the patients prior to their diagnosis of cancer (n = 3455). The patient's travel distance to the first specialised diagnostic facility was calculated by ArcGIS Network Analyst. The diagnostic strategy, cancer suspicion and the GP's satisfaction with the waiting times and the available investigations were assessed from GP questionnaires.
resultsWhen the GP did not suspect cancer or serious illness, an insignificant tendency was seen that longer travel distance to the first specialised diagnostic facility increased the likelihood of the GP using 'wait-and-see' approach and 'medical treatment' as diagnostic strategies. The GPs of patients with travel distance longer than 49 km to the first specialised diagnostic facility were more likely to report dissatisfaction with the waiting time for requested diagnostic investigations (PR: 1.98, 95% CI: 1.20-3.28).
conclusionA insignificant tendency to use 'wait-and-see' and 'medical treatment' were seen among GPs of patients with long travel distance to the first diagnostic facility when the GP did not suspect cancer or serious illness. Long distance was associated with higher probability of GP dissatisfaction with the waiting time for diagnostic investigations.
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