ArticleBJGP open2023
Exploring why European primary care physicians sometimes do not think of, or act on, a possible cancer diagnosis. A qualitative study.
Article in BJGP open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Characteristics of Patients Diagnosed With Cancer After Emergency Medical Center Transport in Japan.Journal of general and family medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Human Healthcare and Its Pharmacy Component from a Safety Point of View.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- What would primary care practitioners do differently after a delayed cancer diagnosis? Learning lessons from their experiences.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2024Article
- Breaking barriers: enhancing cancer detection in younger patients by overcoming diagnostic bias in primary care.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
28 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundWhile primary care physicians (PCPs) play a key role in cancer detection, they can find cancer diagnosis challenging, and some patients have considerable delays between presentation and onward referral.
aimTo explore European PCPs' experiences and views on cases where they considered that they had been slow to think of, or act on, a possible cancer diagnosis. DESIGN &
settingA multicentre European qualitative study, based on an online survey with open-ended questions, asking PCPs for their narratives about cases when they had missed a diagnosis of cancer.
methodUsing maximum variation sampling, PCPs in 23 European countries were asked to describe what happened in a case where they were slow to think of a cancer diagnosis, and for their views on why it happened. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.
resultsA total of 158 PCPs completed the questionnaire. The main themes were as follows: patients' descriptions did not suggest cancer; distracting factors reduced PCPs' cancer suspicions; patients' hesitancy delayed the diagnosis; system factors not facilitating timely diagnosis; PCPs felt that they had acted wrongly; and problems with communicating adequately.
conclusionThe study identified six overarching themes that need to be addressed. Doing so should reduce morbidity and mortality in the small proportion of patients who have a significant, avoidable delay in their cancer diagnosis. The 'Swiss cheese' model of accident causation showed how the themes related to each other.
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