An Exploration of the Utility and Impacts of Implementation Science Strategies by Cancer Registries for Healthcare Improvement: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND

Cancer data registries are central elements of cancer control programs providing critical insights in measures of performance in cancer healthcare delivery. Evidence to practice gaps in cancer care remain substantial. Implementation science (IS) strategies target gaps between generated research evidence and guideline concordance in delivered healthcare. We performed a systematic review of the utilisation and effectiveness of IS strategies reported by cancer registries.

METHODS

A research protocol and literature search were performed seeking studies incorporating implementation strategies utilised by cancer registries for quality improvement. Searches were undertaken in MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, and the grey literature for randomised trials and observational studies. The "Knowledge to Action" (K2A) framework was used to explore implementation gaps in care delivery.

RESULTS

Screening identified 1496 studies, 37 studies identified by title and abstract review, and 9 included for full text review. Studies originated from the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, and Australia reporting on lung, breast, colo-rectal, and cancer clusters. Registry jurisdictions included 7 national, 4 state, and 4 local registries. Knowledge gap analysis consistently identified monitoring and evaluation of data outcomes in accord with registry primary purpose although limited exploration of the utilisation, translation and re-application of this data. Studies lacked description of strategies describing sustainability of generated knowledge, identification of barriers, knowledge adaptation to local contexts, and the selection, adaptation and implementation of interventions for improvement.

CONCLUSION

Available studies provide limited literature evidence of the effective utilisation of IS strategies reported by cancer registries for healthcare improvement. A substantial opportunity presents to study the engagement of IS in cancer registry data use to close the evidence practice gap and facilitate data driven improvement in cancer healthcare.