A PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY TO ASSESS WAITING TIMES TO FIRST TREATMENT IN PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH BRAIN TUMOR

The aim was to investigate and determine waiting intervals from diagnosis to first treatment in brain tumor patients. A prospective observational study was performed at the Department of Neurology, Split University Hospital Center, Split, Croatia, from February 21, 2016 until April 10, 2017. The inclusion criterion was the diagnosis of brain tumor confirmed by standard neuroimaging methods. The diagnosis-to-treatment interval (DTI) was defined as the time interval between the date of confirmed radiological diagnosis and the initiation of definitive treatment. Out of 73 patients diagnosed with brain tumor, 3 of them died, 16 were discharged for symptomatic treatment, and the rest were cured by surgical and/or oncologic procedures. The median DTI for any kind of treatment was 15.5 days. The median DTI for radio-guided and resection surgery was 14 days, while the median DTI for the initial oncologic treatment was 42 days. The median DTI of 15.5 days for brain tumors is still, by a wide margin, beyond the preferable one-digit number. When compared to the available data from other countries, however, it seems that the health system in Croatia provides the same, if not a slightly higher, level of efficiency. The median DTI for primary oncologic treatment did, however, indicate a substantial delay.