TABLE II.
Referral patterns in the 2003–2006 and 2010–2011 cohorts
| Referral variable | Cohort | |
|---|---|---|
|
| ||
| 2003–2006 (n=922) | 2010–2011 (n=520) | |
| Patients referred to cancer centre [n (%) of the cohort] | 869 (94) | 460 (88) |
| Referral made by ... [n (%) of referred pts] | ||
| Family physician | 82 (9) | 78 (17) |
| Surgeon | 101 (12) | 44 (10) |
| Respirologist | 346 (40) | 146 (32) |
| Internist | 244 (28) | 140 (30) |
| Other or unknown | 126 (14) | 52 (11) |
| Physician initially seen at cancer centre [n (%) of referred pts] | ||
| Medical oncologist (MO) | 193 (22) | 121 (26) |
| Radiation oncologist (RO) | 623 (72) | 281 (61) |
| Both MO and RO | 42 (5) | 13 (<1) |
| Respirologist | 8 (1) | 28 (6) |
| Unknown | 3 (<1) | 4 (<1) |
| Patients referred to MO [n (%) of the cohort] | 511 (59) | 285 (62) |
| Referral to MO made by ... [n (%) of referred pts] | ||
| Family physician | 26 (5) | 34 (12) |
| Surgeon | 47 (9) | 16 (3) |
| Respirologist | 85 (17) | 45 (16) |
| Internist | 83 (16) | 21 (7) |
| Radiation oncologist | 236 (46) | 114 (40) |
| Emergency physician | 2 (<1) | 0 (0) |
| Others | 32 (6) | 55 (19) |
| Patients attending the medical oncology clinic | 471 | 263 |
| As a percentage of ... | ||
| Those referred to the cancer centre | 54 | 57 |
| The cohort | 51 | 51 |
Pts = patients.