Quality of care indicators developed for treatment of prostate cancer

Researchers from California have developed nearly 50 quality of care indicators for the treatment of early stage prostate cancer – a tool they say could improve provider selection.

“Good care results in better outcomes, but no one knew before how to define good care,” senior author Dr. Mark S. Litwin, from the University of California at Los Angeles, said in a statement. “The indicators we developed will allow for the thoughtful creation of report cards that patients and primary care physicians can use to make important [treatment] decisions.”In generating the indicators, Dr. Litwin’s team relied on several measures including a literature review, focus groups with patients and their spouses, and expert interviews. After a preliminary list of indicators was created, an expert panel convened to discuss the validity and feasibility of each indicator.The authors considered a variety of treatments for early stage prostate cancer, including surgical resection and radiotherapy. Brachytherapy, however, was not widely available at the time the study was performed and was not included in the analysis, Dr. Litwin noted.The researchers’ findings are published in the May 15th issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.A total of 49 quality of care indicators and 14 covariates made the final list, the researchers note.The selected indicators are representative of several quality domains, including pretreatment referrals, preoperative testing, pathologic specimen analysis, and 10-year disease-free survival. The covariates included case mix measures such as patient age and the presence of comorbidities.”This study for the first time shows that elements of prostate cancer care can be quantified, and such measurements can help patients make the best treatment decisions,” Dr. Litwin stated.(Source: J Clin Oncol 2003;21:1928-1936: Reuters Health: May 15, 2003: Oncolink)