Impact of multidisciplinary team discrepancies on comparative lung cancer outcome analyses and treatment equality

Abstract Introduction This study aimed to evaluate the consistency of lung cancer case assessments across multidisciplinary team (MDT) sites in Denmark. The goal was to appraise the comparability of outcomes between hospitals in a real-world context. Methods We prepared sixty comprehensive, fictitio...

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Main Authors: Torben Riis Rasmussen, Anja Gouliaev, Erik Jakobsen, Karin Hjorthaug, Lene Unmack Larsen, Peter Meldgaard, Jesper Thygesen, Rana Bibi, Lars B. Møller, Arman Arshad, Birgitte Folkersen, Anette Højsgaard, Zaigham Saghir, Klaus R. Larsen, Jesper Ravn
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2024-11-01
Series:BMC Cancer
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-13188-4
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author Torben Riis Rasmussen
Anja Gouliaev
Erik Jakobsen
Karin Hjorthaug
Lene Unmack Larsen
Peter Meldgaard
Jesper Thygesen
Rana Bibi
Lars B. Møller
Arman Arshad
Birgitte Folkersen
Anette Højsgaard
Zaigham Saghir
Klaus R. Larsen
Jesper Ravn
author_facet Torben Riis Rasmussen
Anja Gouliaev
Erik Jakobsen
Karin Hjorthaug
Lene Unmack Larsen
Peter Meldgaard
Jesper Thygesen
Rana Bibi
Lars B. Møller
Arman Arshad
Birgitte Folkersen
Anette Højsgaard
Zaigham Saghir
Klaus R. Larsen
Jesper Ravn
author_sort Torben Riis Rasmussen
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Introduction This study aimed to evaluate the consistency of lung cancer case assessments across multidisciplinary team (MDT) sites in Denmark. The goal was to appraise the comparability of outcomes between hospitals in a real-world context. Methods We prepared sixty comprehensive, fictitious lung cancer case stories, complete with images, and distributed them to the four primary lung cancer MDT conferences in Denmark. These cases were subsequently evaluated as had they been ordinary patients during regular MDT meetings. We compared the conclusions on assigned TNM stage and proposed treatment intent using Kappa statistics. Results The consensus on assigned stage (Stages IA-B, IIA-B, IIIA-B, IV, and undetermined) corresponded to a Fleiss’ Kappa-value of 0.62 (95% CI: 0.52–0.71). The overall assessment of curability, categorized as Curable, Incurable, and Undetermined, corresponded to a Kappa-value of 0.72 (CI: 0.61–0.84). However, for cases unanimously judged by all MDT sites to be Stage III, the concordance on treatment intent was poor, with an agreement coefficient of only 0.32 (95% CI: -0.27–0.97). Conclusion In detail, the level of agreement on assigned stages was less than desired. In consequence, comparative analyses of treatment results from different hospitals or centres may be prone to bias caused by systematic differences in stage assessment or intent of treatment. The least consensus was observed for cases in Stage III, indicating a need for quality improvement efforts to ensure a higher degree of consistency in MDT decisions.
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spelling doaj-art-f0da2178d14641f49b9f1ff78418e02d2024-11-24T12:30:02ZengBMCBMC Cancer1471-24072024-11-0124111110.1186/s12885-024-13188-4Impact of multidisciplinary team discrepancies on comparative lung cancer outcome analyses and treatment equalityTorben Riis Rasmussen0Anja Gouliaev1Erik Jakobsen2Karin Hjorthaug3Lene Unmack Larsen4Peter Meldgaard5Jesper Thygesen6Rana Bibi7Lars B. Møller8Arman Arshad9Birgitte Folkersen10Anette Højsgaard11Zaigham Saghir12Klaus R. Larsen13Jesper Ravn14Department of Respiratory Diseases and Allergy, Aarhus University Hospital (AUH)Department of Respiratory Diseases and Allergy, Aarhus University Hospital (AUH)Department of Thoracic Surgery, Odense University Hospital (OUH)Department of Nuclear Medicine, AUHDepartment of X-ray & Scanning, AUHCancer Department, AUHDepartment of Clinical Engineering, AUHDepartment of Pulmonary Diseases, Aalborg University HospitalDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, Aalborg University HospitalDepartment of Pulmonary Diseases, OUHDepartment of Respiratory Diseases and Allergy, Aarhus University Hospital (AUH)Department of Thoracic Surgery, AUHPulmonary Diseases Section, Medical Department, Gentofte HospitalDepartment of Pulmonary Infections & Medicine, Bispebjerg HospitalDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, RigshospitaletAbstract Introduction This study aimed to evaluate the consistency of lung cancer case assessments across multidisciplinary team (MDT) sites in Denmark. The goal was to appraise the comparability of outcomes between hospitals in a real-world context. Methods We prepared sixty comprehensive, fictitious lung cancer case stories, complete with images, and distributed them to the four primary lung cancer MDT conferences in Denmark. These cases were subsequently evaluated as had they been ordinary patients during regular MDT meetings. We compared the conclusions on assigned TNM stage and proposed treatment intent using Kappa statistics. Results The consensus on assigned stage (Stages IA-B, IIA-B, IIIA-B, IV, and undetermined) corresponded to a Fleiss’ Kappa-value of 0.62 (95% CI: 0.52–0.71). The overall assessment of curability, categorized as Curable, Incurable, and Undetermined, corresponded to a Kappa-value of 0.72 (CI: 0.61–0.84). However, for cases unanimously judged by all MDT sites to be Stage III, the concordance on treatment intent was poor, with an agreement coefficient of only 0.32 (95% CI: -0.27–0.97). Conclusion In detail, the level of agreement on assigned stages was less than desired. In consequence, comparative analyses of treatment results from different hospitals or centres may be prone to bias caused by systematic differences in stage assessment or intent of treatment. The least consensus was observed for cases in Stage III, indicating a need for quality improvement efforts to ensure a higher degree of consistency in MDT decisions.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-13188-4Multidisciplinary team meetingMDTLung cancerReal world setting
spellingShingle Torben Riis Rasmussen
Anja Gouliaev
Erik Jakobsen
Karin Hjorthaug
Lene Unmack Larsen
Peter Meldgaard
Jesper Thygesen
Rana Bibi
Lars B. Møller
Arman Arshad
Birgitte Folkersen
Anette Højsgaard
Zaigham Saghir
Klaus R. Larsen
Jesper Ravn
Impact of multidisciplinary team discrepancies on comparative lung cancer outcome analyses and treatment equality
BMC Cancer
Multidisciplinary team meeting
MDT
Lung cancer
Real world setting
title Impact of multidisciplinary team discrepancies on comparative lung cancer outcome analyses and treatment equality
title_full Impact of multidisciplinary team discrepancies on comparative lung cancer outcome analyses and treatment equality
title_fullStr Impact of multidisciplinary team discrepancies on comparative lung cancer outcome analyses and treatment equality
title_full_unstemmed Impact of multidisciplinary team discrepancies on comparative lung cancer outcome analyses and treatment equality
title_short Impact of multidisciplinary team discrepancies on comparative lung cancer outcome analyses and treatment equality
title_sort impact of multidisciplinary team discrepancies on comparative lung cancer outcome analyses and treatment equality
topic Multidisciplinary team meeting
MDT
Lung cancer
Real world setting
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-024-13188-4
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