Delays in the diagnosis of lung cancer

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical and demographic factors associated with delays in the diagnosis of lung cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A 2-year prospective study of patients admitted to the respiratory medicine ward with a suspected diagnosis of lung cancer. We studied demographic factors, health care: received, place of residence, and delays in carrying out diagnostic procedures. The following diagnostic time periods were defined: consultation (from first symptom to first medical visit); middle period (from;first medical visit to hospital admission) and diagnostic (from hospital admission to histological diagnosis and clinical staging). RESULTS: One hundred thirteen patients with a mean age of 65 years (range; 36=90), 103 men and 10 women, we're studied. The most frequent symptoms leading to consultation were coughing (10.6%), hemoptysis (19.5%), chest pain (26.5%), and shortness of breath (9.7%). First visits were to a primary care physician for 72%, to the hospital emergency room for 22%, or to a pulmonologist for 6%. Forty-four percent of the patients-visited-the doctor 2 or 3 times. The mean +/-SD, numbers of days for the different time periods were as follows: consultation, 30.3 +/- 60; diagnosis, 18.6 +/- 19; middle period 37.9 +/- 63. The mean total time from first symptom to diagnosis was 85.7 +/- 87 days. The middle period, the time in hospital until diagnosis, and the total time were shorter when patients were referred by the primary care physician to the emergency room or were directly admitted to the hospital (P < .001). Only 25.7% of the staged lung,cancers were,operable. CONCLUSIONS: Delays in lung cancer diagnosis are long. The attitudes; of primary, care physicians and their, relations with specialized care,providers are crucial for reducing delays.