An audit of breast cancer pathology reporting in Australia in 1995
1999

Audit of Breast Cancer Pathology Reporting in Australia

Sample size: 1500 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Kricker A, Armstrong B, Smith C, Bilous M, Camaris C, Mayer A, Psarianos T

Primary Institution: NHMRC National Breast Cancer Centre and Cancer Control Information Centre

Hypothesis

To measure the quality of pathology reporting of breast cancer and establish a baseline against which future changes can be measured.

Conclusion

The audit highlighted areas for improvement in breast cancer reporting in Australia, revealing significant variation and incompleteness in reports.

Supporting Evidence

  • 93% of women had tumour type and size reported in invasive breast cancer reports.
  • Only 28% of reports contained all recommended information.
  • 99.6% of cases reported histological type of breast cancer.

Takeaway

The study looked at how well doctors reported breast cancer cases in Australia and found that many reports were missing important information.

Methodology

An audit of item completeness in breast cancer reports from 147 laboratories and 392 pathologists.

Limitations

Infrequency of reporting may have contributed to incompleteness, and there was significant variation across states.

Participant Demographics

Reports were issued by 147 laboratories and 392 pathologists.

Statistical Information

Confidence Interval

95% CI 92–95

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1038/sj.bjc.6690392

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