Efficiency of Diagnostic Strategy for Fast Track Lung Cancer Diagnosis

Efficiency of Diagnostic Strategy for Fast Track Lung Cancer Diagnosis. A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01779726

Enrollment

331

Registered

2013-01-30

Start date

2012-01-31

Completion date

2014-01-31

Last updated

2014-12-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Lung Cancer

Keywords

Organization, of fast track

Brief summary

Annually, 4,200 new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed in Denmark. The stage of the disease is an important prognostic factor as an advanced stage reduces the opportunity for surgical intervention and other curative treatment. In denmark, as in many other countries, a fast track evaluation for lung cancer has been introduced in 2008. When the general practitioners refer patients through the fast track, the majority of patients make their first visit to the Department of Pulmonary Medicine. After this visit, further investigation is initiated, which is often a CT scan of the chest and the upper abdomen. We dont know Whether this is the most appropriate organisation. The aim of this project is to evaluate the way lung cancer patients are examined through the fast track and the impact of chest CT before an evaluation by a chest physician. Investigators want to randomise all patients referred for the existing fast track to either direct CT scan of chest and upper abdomen or to evaluation by the chest physician, in order to test: A) Fast track performance measured by number of CT scans and chest physician specialist time per diagnosis, and whether there is a difference between the intervention and the control group.

Interventions

RADIATIONCT scan before chest physician

Patients referred to department of lung medicine are randomised according to the month of birth. Patients born in even months are CT scan before a consultation with a chest physician

RADIATIONUsual diagnostic workup

Patients born in odd months seen in the department of lung medicine by a chest physician and maybe then CT scanned (usual workup practice according to the fast track evaluation)

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* All patients referred to fast track evaluation (lung department, Aarhus university hospital) from primary care.

Exclusion criteria

* Not referred from general practice

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Chest physician time	2013	Time (in minutes) spent by a chest physician pr patient

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Satisfaction with new organisation	2013	Measured with a qualitative focus interview with staff a the Department of lung medicine (doctors, nurses and secretary).

Countries

Denmark

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026