Critical items for assessing risk of lung and colorectal cancer in primary care: a Delphi study
Critical items for assessing risk of lung and colorectal cancer in primary care: a Delphi study
BACKGROUND: Patients with lung or colorectal cancer often present late and have a poor prognosis. Identifying diagnostic indicators to optimally assess the risk of these cancers in primary care would support early identification and timely referral for patients at increased risk.
AIM: To obtain consensus regarding potential diagnostic indicators that are important for assessing the risk of lung or colorectal cancer in primary care consulters presenting with lung or abdominal symptoms.
DESIGN AND SETTING: A Delphi study was conducted with 28 participants from primary and secondary care and academic settings in the UK and Europe.
METHOD: Indicators were obtained from systematic reviews, recent primary studies and consultation with experts prior to the Delphi study being conducted. Over three rounds, participants rated each diagnostic indicator in terms of its importance, ranked them in order of importance, and rated each item as crucial or not crucial to assess during a GP consultation.
RESULTS: The final round resulted in 25 items remaining for each type of cancer, including established cancer symptoms such as rectal bleeding for colorectal cancer and haemoptysis for lung cancer, but also less frequently used indicators such as patients' concerns about cancer.
CONCLUSION: This study highlights the items clinicians feel would be most crucial to include in the clinical assessment of primary care patients, a number of which have rarely been noted in the previous literature. Their importance in assessing the risk of lung or colorectal cancer will be tested as part of a large prospective cohort study (CANDID).
Adult, Clinical Protocols, Colorectal Neoplasms/diagnosis, Delphi Technique, Early Detection of Cancer/methods, Female, Humans, Lung Neoplasms/diagnosis, Male, Middle Aged, Predictive Value of Tests, Primary Health Care/organization & administration, Prognosis, Referral and Consultation/organization & administration, Risk Assessment, United Kingdom/epidemiology
e509-15
Mansell, Gemma
be6d92d7-996f-49a2-b598-d3be41a1b6d5
Shapley, Mark
bc6ab743-9736-4aee-b3ac-d8b5ba2efcbd
van der Windt, Danielle
a51e943b-e0ed-4aba-9d2d-5e0c7a3e7aee
Sanders, Tom
dc8771cb-7e8b-4fbc-b14c-3af5ba0572bc
Little, Paul
1bf2d1f7-200c-47a5-ab16-fe5a8756a777
28 July 2014
Mansell, Gemma
be6d92d7-996f-49a2-b598-d3be41a1b6d5
Shapley, Mark
bc6ab743-9736-4aee-b3ac-d8b5ba2efcbd
van der Windt, Danielle
a51e943b-e0ed-4aba-9d2d-5e0c7a3e7aee
Sanders, Tom
dc8771cb-7e8b-4fbc-b14c-3af5ba0572bc
Little, Paul
1bf2d1f7-200c-47a5-ab16-fe5a8756a777
Mansell, Gemma, Shapley, Mark, van der Windt, Danielle, Sanders, Tom and Little, Paul
(2014)
Critical items for assessing risk of lung and colorectal cancer in primary care: a Delphi study.
The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 64 (625), .
(doi:10.3399/bjgp14X681001).
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patients with lung or colorectal cancer often present late and have a poor prognosis. Identifying diagnostic indicators to optimally assess the risk of these cancers in primary care would support early identification and timely referral for patients at increased risk.
AIM: To obtain consensus regarding potential diagnostic indicators that are important for assessing the risk of lung or colorectal cancer in primary care consulters presenting with lung or abdominal symptoms.
DESIGN AND SETTING: A Delphi study was conducted with 28 participants from primary and secondary care and academic settings in the UK and Europe.
METHOD: Indicators were obtained from systematic reviews, recent primary studies and consultation with experts prior to the Delphi study being conducted. Over three rounds, participants rated each diagnostic indicator in terms of its importance, ranked them in order of importance, and rated each item as crucial or not crucial to assess during a GP consultation.
RESULTS: The final round resulted in 25 items remaining for each type of cancer, including established cancer symptoms such as rectal bleeding for colorectal cancer and haemoptysis for lung cancer, but also less frequently used indicators such as patients' concerns about cancer.
CONCLUSION: This study highlights the items clinicians feel would be most crucial to include in the clinical assessment of primary care patients, a number of which have rarely been noted in the previous literature. Their importance in assessing the risk of lung or colorectal cancer will be tested as part of a large prospective cohort study (CANDID).
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Published date: 28 July 2014
Additional Information:
© British Journal of General Practice 2014.
Keywords:
Adult, Clinical Protocols, Colorectal Neoplasms/diagnosis, Delphi Technique, Early Detection of Cancer/methods, Female, Humans, Lung Neoplasms/diagnosis, Male, Middle Aged, Predictive Value of Tests, Primary Health Care/organization & administration, Prognosis, Referral and Consultation/organization & administration, Risk Assessment, United Kingdom/epidemiology
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 501320
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/501320
ISSN: 0960-1643
PURE UUID: 8aa721e4-756a-4fb1-bf7e-1c9a00c94198
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Date deposited: 28 May 2025 17:18
Last modified: 31 May 2025 01:34
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Contributors
Author:
Gemma Mansell
Author:
Mark Shapley
Author:
Danielle van der Windt
Author:
Tom Sanders
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