ArticleBMC health services research2020
The complexity of diagnosing sarcoma in a timely manner: perspectives of health professionals, patients, and carers in Australia.
Article in BMC health services research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
29 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patients' experiences of the path to sarcoma diagnosis: a qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- Barriers to care for musculoskeletal sarcoma patients: a public health perspective.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Paratesticular Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma Masquerading as Epididymitis: A Diagnostic Challenge in Adolescents.Clinical case reports · 2026Article
- How Much Do Healthcare Practitioners Know About Sarcoma?Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Article
- Health service access and delivery for people living with rare disorders: a scoping review.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2026Article
- Knowledge and Clinical Practices of Primary Care Physicians Regarding Soft Tissue Sarcomas: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Observational
- Article
- Knowledge, Awareness, and Attitudes Toward Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcomas Among the General Population in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2026Article
- Article
- Assessing Unit Perspectives on Referrals to a Regional Bone and Soft Tissue Tumour Service.Cureus · 2026Article
- Building Better Website Resources: What People Diagnosed with Sarcoma and Their Carers Want to Know.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2025Article
- PV-1: a novel molecular prognostic marker of distant metastases in various solid tumors.EMBO molecular medicine · 2025Article
- ASO Practice Guidelines Series: Multidisciplinary Management of Retroperitoneal Sarcomas.Annals of surgical oncology · 2025Review
- Musculoskeletal Tumor Care Disparities Prior to Initiation of Treatment Among Newly Diagnosed Adult Patients.Cancers · 2025Article
- Identification of novel diagnostic and prognostic microRNAs in sarcoma on TCGA dataset: bioinformatics and machine learning approach.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Characteristics and Outcomes of Soft Tissue Sarcoma in Saudi Arabia: A 10-Year Experience.Cancer management and research · 2025Article
- Observational
- Comparing ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4's alignments with the German evidence-based S3 guideline for adult soft tissue sarcoma.iScience · 2024Article
- Classification of pediatric soft and bone sarcomas using DNA methylation-based profiling.BMC cancer · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundProlonged diagnosis intervals occur more often in rare cancers, such as sarcoma. Patients with a delayed diagnosis may require more radical surgery and have a reduced chance of survival. Previous research has focused on quantifying the time taken to achieve a diagnosis without exploring the reasons for potential delays. The aim of this study was to explore patients', carers', and health professionals' perceived barriers to timely diagnosis and referral for treatment for sarcoma.
methodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with: health professionals working with sarcoma (n = 21); patients who have been diagnosed with sarcoma (n = 22); and carers of patients diagnosed with sarcoma (n = 17). Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis.
resultsFour overarching themes were identified: patient perception of symptoms, difficulties of diagnosis, lack of experience, and availability of health services. Diagnosis was prolonged by the limited availability of health services, lack of prompt referrals to a sarcoma specialist centre, and diagnostic challenges. Intervals also occurred when patients underestimated the severity of their symptoms and did not seek prompt medical consultation.
conclusionsPatients with a potential sarcoma need to be promptly referred to a sarcoma specialist centre and additional diagnosis pathways need to be developed to reduce the rate of patients being referred to wrong specialists. Sarcoma education must be embedded in medical courses and professional development curricula. A public health approach should be taken to improve sarcoma knowledge and health seeking behaviours in the community.
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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.