Open AccessKnowledge and use of prognostic scales by oncologists and palliative care physicians in adult patients with advanced cancer: A national survey (ONCOPRONO study)
Author(s) -
Dantigny Raphaëlle,
Ecarnot Fiona,
Economos Guillaume,
PerceauChambard Elise,
Sanchez Stéphane,
Barbaret Cécile
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
cancer medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.403
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 2045-7634
DOI - 10.1002/cam4.4467
Subject(s) - palliative care , medicine , scale (ratio) , family medicine , descriptive statistics , cancer , nursing , statistics , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics
Background Prognostic scales exist to estimate patient survival in advanced cancer. However, there are no studies evaluating their use and practice. The objective of this study was to evaluate in a nationwide study the proportion of oncologists and palliative care physicians who had knowledge of these scales. Methods A descriptive, national, cross‐sectional study was conducted via an online questionnaire to oncologists and palliative care physicians across France. Results Palliative care physicians had better knowledge of the scales than oncologists (42.3% ( n = 74) vs. 27.8% ( n = 33), p = 0.015). The Palliative Performance Status (PPS) and Pronopall Scale were the best‐known (51.4% ( n = 55) and 65.4% ( n = 70), respectively) and the most widely used (35% ( n = 28) and 60% ( n = 48), respectively). Improved training in the use of these scales was requested by 85.4% ( n = 251) of participants, while 72.8% ( n = 214) reported that they did not use them at all. Limited training and lack of consensus on which scale to use were cited as the main obstacles to use. Conclusion This is the first national study on the use of prognostic scales in advanced cancer. Our findings highlight a need to improve training in these scales and to reach a consensus on scale selection.