Biomaterial Database

Factors influencing skin cancer excision rates in Scottish primary care. 2018

R Korgul, and S A Holme

University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh, UK.

Skin cancer incidence rates are rising in the UK, yet many areas are experiencing a shortage of dermatologists. We sought to compare skin cancer excision rates between general practice (GP) surgeons to identify factors associated with good practice, through a retrospective analysis of GP skin cancer histopathology reports in three Scottish Health Boards over a 4-year period. Postal questionnaires were used to explore factors affecting surgeons' excision rates. GPs excised 895 skin cancers (4.5% of the 19 853 regional total) during the period. Of the basal cell carcinomas, 308 would be classified as low-risk by current National Institute for Health and Care Excellence criteria. Of the returned questionnaires, 58 accounted for 631 (70.5%) of the excised skin cancers. Analysing completeness of skin cancer excision, there was a statistically significant difference between GPs performing excision on ≥ 11 lesions/month compared with those performing excision on ≤ 10/month. Policymakers may wish to consider systems to facilitate low-risk patients being treated by GPs who undertake frequent surgical procedures.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D010818	Practice Patterns, Physicians'	Patterns of practice related to diagnosis and treatment as especially influenced by cost of the service requested and provided.	Clinical Practice Patterns,Physician's Practice Patterns,Clinical Practice Pattern,Pattern, Clinical Practice,Patterns, Clinical Practice,Practice Pattern, Clinical,Practice Patterns, Clinical,Practice Patterns, Physician's,Prescribing Patterns, Physician,Physician Practice Patterns,Physician Prescribing Pattern,Physician Prescribing Patterns,Physician's Practice Pattern,Physicians' Practice Pattern,Physicians' Practice Patterns,Practice Pattern, Physician's,Practice Pattern, Physicians',Practice Patterns, Physician,Prescribing Pattern, Physician
D011320	Primary Health Care	Care which provides integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community. (JAMA 1995;273(3):192)	Primary Care,Primary Healthcare,Care, Primary,Care, Primary Health,Health Care, Primary,Healthcare, Primary
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012189	Retrospective Studies	Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.	Retrospective Study,Studies, Retrospective,Study, Retrospective
D012606	Scotland	The most northerly of the four countries of the United Kingdom, occupying about one-third of the island of Great Britain. The capital is Edinburgh.
D012878	Skin Neoplasms	Tumors or cancer of the SKIN.	Cancer of Skin,Skin Cancer,Cancer of the Skin,Neoplasms, Skin,Cancer, Skin,Cancers, Skin,Neoplasm, Skin,Skin Cancers,Skin Neoplasm
D058006	General Practice	Patient-based medical care provided across age and gender or specialty boundaries.	Practice, General