Publish date: 3 November 2023
Race, place of residence and social status all have an impact on how much patients with lung cancer benefit from treatment, new research published in BMJ Open has revealed. In addition, survival and mortality rates were found to be worse for those living in rural areas, elderly people, and men.
The research team reviewed existing studies to better understand which health inequalities were most rife on the lung cancer clinical pathway.
The study was supervised by a researcher from West London NHS Trust, and reviewed all evidence published in the last 10 years that examined health inequalities in: access to, outcomes from, and experience of these services.
A total of 41 research papers were included in the study, finding evidence of the external factors that impact diagnosis, treatment and supportive care for lung cancer. Clinical pathways are a common point of intervention for health system improvement initiatives and can be used to reduce unwarranted variation, enhance care quality, or improve outcomes.
The focus of the study was lung cancer, due to it being one of the biggest causes of premature mortality in the world, including the UK.
The research supervisor, Dr Sophie Coronini-Cronberg, who is Director of Research and Development at West London NHS Trust, said: "It has long been recognised that health policies and medical treatments do not benefit everyone equally, resulting in health inequalities. Addressing these systematic differences is a question of social justice and the NHS has a mandated duty of care to do so. The urgent need to reduce these unfair differences has received greater focus due to the coronavirus pandemic, which accentuated difficulties accessing hospital treatment, including cancer services.
“Our work shows a way that health inequalities can be grouped and also mapped along a clinical pathway. Although our example was lung cancer, the methodology could easily be applied to mental health services, and beyond.”
Sophie is also the Implementation Lead for the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Northwest London, and has many years experience both of evaluating, implementing and advising on health inequality-reduction policies and programmes. This year, for example, she and her team have been commissioned by NHS England to provide support and input into the forthcoming Outpatients Strategic Vision, by providing evidence and expertise for the potential risks for exacerbating health inequalities".
You can read the study in full here: What health inequalities exist in access to, outcomes from and experience of treatment for lung cancer? A scoping review | BMJ Open
Background information:
Lennox L, LambeK, Hindocha C, Coronini-Cronberg S.2023. What health inequalities exist in access to, outcomes from and experienceof treatment for lung cancer?: A scoping review, BMJOpen , ISSN: 2044-6055
The research was made possible in part through a grant from the West London Cancer Alliance, RM Partners. The work was also supported by the National Institute for Health (NIHR) Research Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) Northwest London (NWL), which is co-hosted by Imperial College London and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
The collaboration undertakes high-quality applied health and care research and work across local health and care systems to close the second translational gap by supporting implementation of research while working collectively with ARCs in other parts of England to ensure national impact.