The diagnostic and therapeutic care and degree of follow-up delivered to 2406 breast-cancer patients over two years (1978 - 79) in 31 Italian hospitals are reviewed. Although there was broad agreement about recommended treatment protocols, staging by standard methods was recorded in only 44% of patients, assessment and reporting of side-effects was considered in only 49% of all treated patients, follow-up data at two years were available for only 54% of living patients, and the dropout rate from chemotherapy protocols was 35%. Improvement of these unsatisfactory aspects of care would allow a better appreciation of the real benefit that could be achieved with recommended protocols and would result in a more effective use of health resources.
Quality of breast-cancer care in Italian general hospitals / A. Liberati, A. Andreani, F. Colombo, C. Confalonieri, S. Franceschi, C. La Vecchia, G. Tognoni. - In: THE LANCET. - ISSN 0140-6736. - 2:8292(1982 Jul 31), pp. 258-260. [10.1016/S0140-6736(82)90335-X]
Quality of breast-cancer care in Italian general hospitals
C. La VecchiaPenultimo
;
1982
Abstract
The diagnostic and therapeutic care and degree of follow-up delivered to 2406 breast-cancer patients over two years (1978 - 79) in 31 Italian hospitals are reviewed. Although there was broad agreement about recommended treatment protocols, staging by standard methods was recorded in only 44% of patients, assessment and reporting of side-effects was considered in only 49% of all treated patients, follow-up data at two years were available for only 54% of living patients, and the dropout rate from chemotherapy protocols was 35%. Improvement of these unsatisfactory aspects of care would allow a better appreciation of the real benefit that could be achieved with recommended protocols and would result in a more effective use of health resources.Pubblicazioni consigliate
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