Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34823515›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2021

Equitable access to cancer patient pathways in Norway - a national registry-based study.

Frank Olsen, Bjarne K Jacobsen, Ivar Heuch, Kjell M Tveit, Lise Balteskard

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 36% of its field
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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. "I Became the Messenger Between the Hospitals": A Study on the Journeys of People With Cancer Using the Critical Incident Technique.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. 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

5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Frank OlsenDepartment of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway. frank.olsen@uit.no.
Bjarne K JacobsenDepartment of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Ivar HeuchDepartment of Mathematics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Kjell M TveitInstitute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Lise BalteskardCentre for Clinical Documentation and Evaluation (SKDE), Northern Norway Regional Health Authority, Tromsø, Norway.
Northern Norway Regional Health Authority · NOUiT The Arctic University of Norway · NOUniversity of Bergen · NOUniversity of Oslo · NO

Funding

UiT The Arctic University of Norway Publication fund of UiT The Arctic University of Norway: Code: IN-1096130
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn 2015, cancer patient pathways (CPP) were implemented in Norway to reduce unnecessary non-medical delay in the diagnostic process and start of treatment. The main aim of this study was to investigate the equality in access to CPPs for patients with either lung, colorectal, breast or prostate cancer in Norway.

methodsNational population-based data on individual level from 2015 to 2017 were used to study two proportions; i) patients in CPPs without the cancer diagnosis, and ii) cancer patients included in CPPs. Logistic regression was applied to examine the associations between these proportions and place of residence (hospital referral area), age, education, income, comorbidity and travel time to hospital.

resultsAge and place of residence were the two most important factors for describing the variation in proportions. For the CPP patients, inconsistent differences were found for income and education, while for the cancer patients the probability of being included in a CPP increased with income.

conclusionsThe age effect can be related to both the increasing risk of cancer and increasing number of GP and hospital contacts with age. The non-systematic results for CPP patients according to income and education can be interpreted as equitable access, as opposed to the systematic differences found among cancer patients in different income groups. The inequalities between income groups among cancer patients and the inequalities based on the patients' place of residence, for both CPP and cancer patients, are unwarranted and need to be addressed.

Indexed as

IncomeProstatic NeoplasmsHumansMaleNorwayReferral and ConsultationRegistriesCancerCritical pathwaysNorwaySmall-area analysisSocioeconomic factorsUniversal health care

Identifiers

PMID34823515
PMCPMC8613926
OpenAlexW3217683612

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.