Abstract
Objective: Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality of all gynaecological cancers. This study aimed to identify the extent to which women across New South Wales experienced variation in their care in diagnosis and initial treatment for ovarian cancer against the national optimal care pathway for ovarian cancer.
Method: Clinical audit methodology was utilised to explore variations for women with primary ovarian cancer; 171 eligible cases were identified through by the NSW Cancer Registry for the period of 1 March 2017 to 28 February 2018.
Results: Limited variation was detected with 86% of women being reviewed by a specialist gynaecological oncology multidisciplinary team; 54% of women received their first treatment within 28 days of their first specialist appointment, 66% of women having their first surgery completed by a gynaecological oncologist and 45% of women received their first treatment in a specialist gynaecological oncology hospital.
Conclusion: Deviation from effective ovarian cancer care is apparent particularly in the location and timeliness of first treatment, with implications for the quality of care received and care outcomes. Understanding factors that contribute to variation is critical to ensure optimal and appropriate ovarian cancer care and to tackle systemic barriers to the provision of effective care.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e13649 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-13 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | European Journal of Cancer Care |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| Early online date | 3 Jul 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Nov 2022 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Copyright the Commonwealth of Australia 2022. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.Keywords
- clinical guidelines
- clinical variation
- ovarian cancer