Dubois C, De Schutter H, Leroy R, Stordeur S, De Gendt C, Schillemans V, Kohn L, Van Eycken L, Vrijens F
Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre, Brussels, Belgium.
Belgian Cancer Registry, Brussels, Belgium.
Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2018 Mar;27(2):e12822. doi: 10.1111/ecc.12822. Epub 2018 Jan 29.
The concept of multidisciplinary team meetings (MDTs) in cancer care is endorsed internationally, but its uptake varies considerably. In Belgium, MDT meetings were financially recognised in 2003 to encourage healthcare professionals to join their knowledge and competences to improve the quality and coordination of cancer care. This study aimed to evaluate for seven cancer types diagnosed between 2004 and 2011, the practices of MDT meetings in Belgium by means of population-based administrative databases. Results show a clear increase over time in the proportion of individual patients discussed at MDT meetings. Although this evolution may be partly explained by the legal implementation of several financial initiatives to stimulate MDT meetings, it also suggests an increase in specialists' awareness of the importance of such meetings. Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement, for specific cancer types as well as for certain subgroups such as older patients. From the specialists' point of view, reducing the administrative burden and time these meetings demand may entail a greater participation to MDT meetings. Further research is needed to identify the barriers to discuss more patients at MDT meetings and to elucidate the impact of MDT meetings on the quality of cancer care.
癌症护理中的多学科团队会议（MDT）概念在国际上得到认可，但其采用情况差异很大。在比利时，MDT会议于2003年获得财政认可，以鼓励医疗保健专业人员结合他们的知识和能力，提高癌症护理的质量和协调性。本研究旨在通过基于人群的行政数据库，评估2004年至2011年间诊断出的七种癌症类型在比利时的MDT会议实践情况。结果显示，MDT会议讨论的个体患者比例随时间明显增加。虽然这种演变可能部分归因于多项刺激MDT会议的财政举措的法律实施，但这也表明专家们对这类会议重要性的认识有所提高。然而，无论是特定癌症类型还是某些亚组（如老年患者），仍有改进空间。从专家的角度来看，减轻这些会议所需的行政负担和时间，可能会促使更多人参与MDT会议。需要进一步研究，以确定在MDT会议上讨论更多患者的障碍，并阐明MDT会议对癌症护理质量的影响。
