Advanced Stage Head and Neck Cancer Diagnosis: HEADSpAcE Consortium Health Systems Benchmarking Survey

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Services Research
• Public Health

Background:

• Most head and neck cancer (HNC) patients are diagnosed at advanced stages globally.
• The influence of health system factors on HNC diagnostic stage requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between health system factors and the proportion of advanced-stage head and neck cancer diagnoses.
• To identify modifiable health system factors that could improve early HNC detection.

Main Methods:

• A survey of 18 head and neck cancer (HNC) centers within the HEADSpAcE Consortium.
• Analysis using least square means to compare health system factors with the proportion of advanced-stage HNC.

Main Results:

• Formal referral triaging was associated with a 14% lower proportion of advanced-stage HNC.
• Routine monitoring of referral-to-diagnosis time was linked to a 16% decrease.
• Fully publicly funded systems showed a 17% reduction in advanced-stage diagnoses.

Conclusions:

• Health system factors like referral triaging, monitoring, and public funding are associated with lower advanced-stage HNC rates.
• Identifying and monitoring these factors can inform interventions and system redesign for earlier HNC diagnosis.
• Further research is needed to address health systems where data on these factors is not routinely available.