Limitations and perceived delays for diagnosis and staging of lung cancer in Portugal: A nationwide survey analysis.

<h4>Background</h4>We aimed to identify the perception of physicians on the limitations and delays for diagnosing, staging and treatment of lung cancer in Portugal.<h4>Methods</h4>Portuguese physicians were invited to participate an electronic survey (Feb-Apr-2020). Descripti...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Fernando Barata, Paula Fidalgo, Sara Figueiredo, Fernanda S Tonin, Filipa Duarte-Ramos
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/7ed87638ae554c899e6ae4b8c8af9870
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:7ed87638ae554c899e6ae4b8c8af9870
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:7ed87638ae554c899e6ae4b8c8af98702021-12-02T20:07:18ZLimitations and perceived delays for diagnosis and staging of lung cancer in Portugal: A nationwide survey analysis.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0252529https://doaj.org/article/7ed87638ae554c899e6ae4b8c8af98702021-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252529https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203<h4>Background</h4>We aimed to identify the perception of physicians on the limitations and delays for diagnosing, staging and treatment of lung cancer in Portugal.<h4>Methods</h4>Portuguese physicians were invited to participate an electronic survey (Feb-Apr-2020). Descriptive statistical analyses were performed, with categorical variables reported as absolute and relative frequencies, and continuous variables with non-normal distribution as median and interquartile range (IQR). The association between categorical variables was assessed through Pearson's chi-square test. Mann-Whitney test was used to compare categorical and continuous variables (Stata v.15.0).<h4>Results</h4>Sixty-one physicians participated in the study (45 pulmonologists, 16 oncologists), with n = 26 exclusively assisting lung cancer patients. Most experts work in public hospitals (90.16%) in Lisbon (36.07%). During the last semester of 2019, responders performed a median of 85 (IQR 55-140) diagnoses of lung cancer. Factors preventing faster referral to the specialty included poor articulation between services (60.0%) and patients low economic/cultural level (44.26%). Obtaining National Drugs Authority authorization was one of the main reasons (75.41%) for delaying the begin of treatment. The cumulative lag-time from patients' admission until treatment ranged from 42-61 days. Experts believe that the time to diagnosis could be optimized in around 11.05 days [IQR 9.61-12.50]. Most physicians (88.52%) started treatment before biomarkers results motivated by performance status deterioration (65.57%) or high tumor burden (52.46%). Clinicians exclusively assisting lung cancer cases reported fewer delays for obtaining authorization for biomarkers analysis (p = 0.023). Higher waiting times for surgery (p = 0.001), radiotherapy (p = 0.004), immunotherapy (p = 0.003) were reported by professionals from public hospitals.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Physicians believe that is possible to reduce delays in all stages of lung cancer diagnosis with further efforts from multidisciplinary teams and hospital administration.Fernando BarataPaula FidalgoSara FigueiredoFernanda S ToninFilipa Duarte-RamosPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 6, p e0252529 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Fernando Barata Paula Fidalgo Sara Figueiredo Fernanda S Tonin Filipa Duarte-Ramos Limitations and perceived delays for diagnosis and staging of lung cancer in Portugal: A nationwide survey analysis.
description	<h4>Background</h4>We aimed to identify the perception of physicians on the limitations and delays for diagnosing, staging and treatment of lung cancer in Portugal.<h4>Methods</h4>Portuguese physicians were invited to participate an electronic survey (Feb-Apr-2020). Descriptive statistical analyses were performed, with categorical variables reported as absolute and relative frequencies, and continuous variables with non-normal distribution as median and interquartile range (IQR). The association between categorical variables was assessed through Pearson's chi-square test. Mann-Whitney test was used to compare categorical and continuous variables (Stata v.15.0).<h4>Results</h4>Sixty-one physicians participated in the study (45 pulmonologists, 16 oncologists), with n = 26 exclusively assisting lung cancer patients. Most experts work in public hospitals (90.16%) in Lisbon (36.07%). During the last semester of 2019, responders performed a median of 85 (IQR 55-140) diagnoses of lung cancer. Factors preventing faster referral to the specialty included poor articulation between services (60.0%) and patients low economic/cultural level (44.26%). Obtaining National Drugs Authority authorization was one of the main reasons (75.41%) for delaying the begin of treatment. The cumulative lag-time from patients' admission until treatment ranged from 42-61 days. Experts believe that the time to diagnosis could be optimized in around 11.05 days [IQR 9.61-12.50]. Most physicians (88.52%) started treatment before biomarkers results motivated by performance status deterioration (65.57%) or high tumor burden (52.46%). Clinicians exclusively assisting lung cancer cases reported fewer delays for obtaining authorization for biomarkers analysis (p = 0.023). Higher waiting times for surgery (p = 0.001), radiotherapy (p = 0.004), immunotherapy (p = 0.003) were reported by professionals from public hospitals.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Physicians believe that is possible to reduce delays in all stages of lung cancer diagnosis with further efforts from multidisciplinary teams and hospital administration.
format	article
author	Fernando Barata Paula Fidalgo Sara Figueiredo Fernanda S Tonin Filipa Duarte-Ramos
author_facet	Fernando Barata Paula Fidalgo Sara Figueiredo Fernanda S Tonin Filipa Duarte-Ramos
author_sort	Fernando Barata
title	Limitations and perceived delays for diagnosis and staging of lung cancer in Portugal: A nationwide survey analysis.
title_short	Limitations and perceived delays for diagnosis and staging of lung cancer in Portugal: A nationwide survey analysis.
title_full	Limitations and perceived delays for diagnosis and staging of lung cancer in Portugal: A nationwide survey analysis.
title_fullStr	Limitations and perceived delays for diagnosis and staging of lung cancer in Portugal: A nationwide survey analysis.
title_full_unstemmed	Limitations and perceived delays for diagnosis and staging of lung cancer in Portugal: A nationwide survey analysis.
title_sort	limitations and perceived delays for diagnosis and staging of lung cancer in portugal: a nationwide survey analysis.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/7ed87638ae554c899e6ae4b8c8af9870
work_keys_str_mv	AT fernandobarata limitationsandperceiveddelaysfordiagnosisandstagingoflungcancerinportugalanationwidesurveyanalysis AT paulafidalgo limitationsandperceiveddelaysfordiagnosisandstagingoflungcancerinportugalanationwidesurveyanalysis AT sarafigueiredo limitationsandperceiveddelaysfordiagnosisandstagingoflungcancerinportugalanationwidesurveyanalysis AT fernandastonin limitationsandperceiveddelaysfordiagnosisandstagingoflungcancerinportugalanationwidesurveyanalysis AT filipaduarteramos limitationsandperceiveddelaysfordiagnosisandstagingoflungcancerinportugalanationwidesurveyanalysis
_version_	1718375313509974016

Limitations and perceived delays for diagnosis and staging of lung cancer in Portugal: A nationwide survey analysis.

Ejemplares similares