RT Journal Article
T1 Primary Care Referral Delays in Oral Cancer Diagnosis: A Meta-Analysis
A1 Seoane Romero, Juan Manuel
A1 Mallah, Narmeen
A1 Varela Centelles, Pablo
A1 Warnakulasuriya, Saman
A1 Takkouche, Bahi
K1 Dentist
K1 Diagnosis
K1 Meta-analysis
K1 Oral cancer
K1 Primary care
AB ObjectiveTo measure the primary care interval (PCI) in the diagnostic delay of oral cancer and to assess the relation of the referring physician's specialty with disease stage at diagnosis.MethodsWe meta-analyzed reports of oral/oropharyngeal carcinomas detailing PCI start- and endpoints, i.e., the time needed by a primary care physician to refer a suspected oral cancer patient to a specialist.Results17 studies with a total of 2530 patients were eligible; nine provided data on the relative length of PCI, and 10 reported on the impact of the referring professional's specialty on oral cancer diagnostic delay. The average PCI length was slightly longer for general practitioners (GPs) (30.5 days) than for general dental practitioners (GDPs) (27.6 days), while that for the total group was 28.7 days. One-third of the total pre-hospital time spent on diagnosis elapses in GP practices (PCI%: 0.31 [95% CI: 0.23, 0.40]). GDPs refer their patients for treatment at earlier disease stages (TNM I-II) than GPs (Odds Ratio: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.34–0.98).ConclusionsPrimary care accounts for a considerable pre-hospital amount of time of what is necessary for reaching a diagnosis of oral cancer patients. This calls for enhancing early oral cancer recognition in primary care settings.
PB Wiley
SN 1354-523X
YR 2024
FD 2024-12-10
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/42391
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/42391
LA eng
NO Romero, J. M. S., Mallah, N., Varela‐Centelles, P. I., Warnakulasuriya, S., & Takkouche, B. (2024). Primary Care Referral Delays in Oral Cancer Diagnosis: A Meta‐Analysis. Oral Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1111/odi.15218
NO This work was supported by a Grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant number: PI21/01206)
DS Minerva
RD 25 abr 2026