Accuracy in Referrals to Gynecologic Oncologists Based on Clinical Presentation for Ovarian Mass
Ovarian cancer is one of the most lethal gynecological cancers in women due to late diagnosis. Despite technological advancements, experienced physicians have high sensitivities and specificities in subjective assessments when combining ultrasound findings and clinical history in analyzing adnexal m...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-02-01
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| Series: | Diagnostics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/10/2/106 |
| _version_ | 1798042370644639744 |
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| author | Katherine Jane C. Chua Ricky D. Patel Radhika Trivedi Patricia Greenberg Kyle Beiter Thomas Magliaro Ushma Patel Joyce Varughese |
| author_facet | Katherine Jane C. Chua Ricky D. Patel Radhika Trivedi Patricia Greenberg Kyle Beiter Thomas Magliaro Ushma Patel Joyce Varughese |
| author_sort | Katherine Jane C. Chua |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ovarian cancer is one of the most lethal gynecological cancers in women due to late diagnosis. Despite technological advancements, experienced physicians have high sensitivities and specificities in subjective assessments when combining ultrasound findings and clinical history in analyzing adnexal masses. This study aims to demonstrate general obstetricians and gynecologists’ (OB/GYN) appropriateness in gynecologic oncologist referrals for malignant ovarian masses based on history and physical (H&P), imaging, and available tumor markers. Three board certified OB/GYNs were given 148 cases and determined whether or not they would refer them to a gynecologic oncologist. Results showed that OB/GYNs were 81−85% accurate in diagnosing patients with a benign or malignant disease. Among the malignant cases, reviewers had a high sensitivity ranging from 74−81% in appropriately referring a malignancy. In our study, OB/GYNs referred between 23−32% of ovarian masses to a gynecologic oncologist with only 9.5% of cases found to be malignant. Despite the high referral rates, generalists showed a high degree of sensitivity in accurately referring malignant diseases based solely on clinical experience and imaging studies, which could improve survival rates with early intervention by gynecologic oncologists. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T22:35:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-34f8bd9b3b5544c887fd0437d61832e5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4418 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T22:35:41Z |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diagnostics |
| spelling | doaj.art-34f8bd9b3b5544c887fd0437d61832e52022-12-22T03:59:14ZengMDPI AGDiagnostics2075-44182020-02-0110210610.3390/diagnostics10020106diagnostics10020106Accuracy in Referrals to Gynecologic Oncologists Based on Clinical Presentation for Ovarian MassKatherine Jane C. Chua0Ricky D. Patel1Radhika Trivedi2Patricia Greenberg3Kyle Beiter4Thomas Magliaro5Ushma Patel6Joyce Varughese7Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USADepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USABiostatistics and Epidemiology Services Center, Rutgers School of Public Health, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USABiostatistics and Epidemiology Services Center, Rutgers School of Public Health, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USADepartment of Gynecology, Saint Peter’s Physician Associates, Somerset, NJ 08873, USADepartment of Gynecology, Saint Peter’s Physician Associates, Somerset, NJ 08873, USADepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USACapital Health Surgical Group, Gynecology Oncology, Pennington, NJ 08534, USAOvarian cancer is one of the most lethal gynecological cancers in women due to late diagnosis. Despite technological advancements, experienced physicians have high sensitivities and specificities in subjective assessments when combining ultrasound findings and clinical history in analyzing adnexal masses. This study aims to demonstrate general obstetricians and gynecologists’ (OB/GYN) appropriateness in gynecologic oncologist referrals for malignant ovarian masses based on history and physical (H&P), imaging, and available tumor markers. Three board certified OB/GYNs were given 148 cases and determined whether or not they would refer them to a gynecologic oncologist. Results showed that OB/GYNs were 81−85% accurate in diagnosing patients with a benign or malignant disease. Among the malignant cases, reviewers had a high sensitivity ranging from 74−81% in appropriately referring a malignancy. In our study, OB/GYNs referred between 23−32% of ovarian masses to a gynecologic oncologist with only 9.5% of cases found to be malignant. Despite the high referral rates, generalists showed a high degree of sensitivity in accurately referring malignant diseases based solely on clinical experience and imaging studies, which could improve survival rates with early intervention by gynecologic oncologists.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/10/2/106ovarian massreferral gynecologic oncologists |
| spellingShingle | Katherine Jane C. Chua Ricky D. Patel Radhika Trivedi Patricia Greenberg Kyle Beiter Thomas Magliaro Ushma Patel Joyce Varughese Accuracy in Referrals to Gynecologic Oncologists Based on Clinical Presentation for Ovarian Mass Diagnostics ovarian mass referral gynecologic oncologists |
| title | Accuracy in Referrals to Gynecologic Oncologists Based on Clinical Presentation for Ovarian Mass |
| title_full | Accuracy in Referrals to Gynecologic Oncologists Based on Clinical Presentation for Ovarian Mass |
| title_fullStr | Accuracy in Referrals to Gynecologic Oncologists Based on Clinical Presentation for Ovarian Mass |
| title_full_unstemmed | Accuracy in Referrals to Gynecologic Oncologists Based on Clinical Presentation for Ovarian Mass |
| title_short | Accuracy in Referrals to Gynecologic Oncologists Based on Clinical Presentation for Ovarian Mass |
| title_sort | accuracy in referrals to gynecologic oncologists based on clinical presentation for ovarian mass |
| topic | ovarian mass referral gynecologic oncologists |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/10/2/106 |
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