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Patient and primary care delays in the diagnostic pathway of gynaecological cancers: a systematic review of influencing factors
BACKGROUND: Gynaecological cancers are the second most common female cancer type, with survival rates in the UK lower than in many comparable countries. A potentially important factor in the UK’s poorer cancer outcomes is diagnostic delay; gynaecological cancers are the cancer type most likely to be...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Royal College of General Practitioners
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6355279/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30642909 http://dx.doi.org/10.3399/bjgp19X700781 |
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author | Williams, Pauline Murchie, Peter Bond, Christine |
author_facet | Williams, Pauline Murchie, Peter Bond, Christine |
author_sort | Williams, Pauline |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Gynaecological cancers are the second most common female cancer type, with survival rates in the UK lower than in many comparable countries. A potentially important factor in the UK’s poorer cancer outcomes is diagnostic delay; gynaecological cancers are the cancer type most likely to be affected by less timely diagnosis. AIM: To examine current evidence for factors that contribute to patient and primary care delays in the diagnostic pathway of gynaecological cancer. DESIGN AND SETTING: A systematic review of the available literature. METHOD: PRISMA guidelines were followed. MEDLINE and Embase databases and the Cochrane Library were searched using three terms: primary care; gynaecological cancer; and delay. Citation lists of all identified articles were searched. Two authors independently screened the titles, abstracts, and full texts of publications. Data extraction was performed by one author and quality assured by a second reviewer in a 20% sample of selected articles. Synthesis was narrative. RESULTS: A total of 1253 references was identified, of which 37 met the inclusion criteria. Factors associated with delayed diagnosis were categorised as either patient factors (patient demographics, symptoms or knowledge, and presentation to the GP) or primary care factors (doctor factors: patient demographics, symptoms or knowledge, and referral process); and system factors (such as limited access to investigations). CONCLUSION: Delayed diagnosis in the patient and primary care intervals of the diagnostic journey of gynaecological cancer is complex and multifactorial. This review identifies areas of future research that could lead to interventions to enable prompter diagnosis of gynaecological cancers. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6355279 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2019 |
publisher | Royal College of General Practitioners |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-63552792019-02-26 Patient and primary care delays in the diagnostic pathway of gynaecological cancers: a systematic review of influencing factors Williams, Pauline Murchie, Peter Bond, Christine Br J Gen Pract Research BACKGROUND: Gynaecological cancers are the second most common female cancer type, with survival rates in the UK lower than in many comparable countries. A potentially important factor in the UK’s poorer cancer outcomes is diagnostic delay; gynaecological cancers are the cancer type most likely to be affected by less timely diagnosis. AIM: To examine current evidence for factors that contribute to patient and primary care delays in the diagnostic pathway of gynaecological cancer. DESIGN AND SETTING: A systematic review of the available literature. METHOD: PRISMA guidelines were followed. MEDLINE and Embase databases and the Cochrane Library were searched using three terms: primary care; gynaecological cancer; and delay. Citation lists of all identified articles were searched. Two authors independently screened the titles, abstracts, and full texts of publications. Data extraction was performed by one author and quality assured by a second reviewer in a 20% sample of selected articles. Synthesis was narrative. RESULTS: A total of 1253 references was identified, of which 37 met the inclusion criteria. Factors associated with delayed diagnosis were categorised as either patient factors (patient demographics, symptoms or knowledge, and presentation to the GP) or primary care factors (doctor factors: patient demographics, symptoms or knowledge, and referral process); and system factors (such as limited access to investigations). CONCLUSION: Delayed diagnosis in the patient and primary care intervals of the diagnostic journey of gynaecological cancer is complex and multifactorial. This review identifies areas of future research that could lead to interventions to enable prompter diagnosis of gynaecological cancers. Royal College of General Practitioners 2019-02 2019-01-15 /pmc/articles/PMC6355279/ /pubmed/30642909 http://dx.doi.org/10.3399/bjgp19X700781 Text en © British Journal of General Practice 2019 This article is Open Access: CC BY-NC 4.0 licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Research Williams, Pauline Murchie, Peter Bond, Christine Patient and primary care delays in the diagnostic pathway of gynaecological cancers: a systematic review of influencing factors |
title | Patient and primary care delays in the diagnostic pathway of gynaecological cancers: a systematic review of influencing factors |
title_full | Patient and primary care delays in the diagnostic pathway of gynaecological cancers: a systematic review of influencing factors |
title_fullStr | Patient and primary care delays in the diagnostic pathway of gynaecological cancers: a systematic review of influencing factors |
title_full_unstemmed | Patient and primary care delays in the diagnostic pathway of gynaecological cancers: a systematic review of influencing factors |
title_short | Patient and primary care delays in the diagnostic pathway of gynaecological cancers: a systematic review of influencing factors |
title_sort | patient and primary care delays in the diagnostic pathway of gynaecological cancers: a systematic review of influencing factors |
topic | Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6355279/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30642909 http://dx.doi.org/10.3399/bjgp19X700781 |
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