Page 124 - Diagnostic delay of endometriosis

Composition of the expert panel
We invited a diversity of health care professionals and patients for the expert panel by sending them an information letter and contact information for confirmation of their participation by email. Panel members were addressed individually and given the opportunity to participate anonymously. The professionals invited to the expert panel consisted of general practitioners, gynaecologists, and miscellaneous other specialists with special interest in endometriosis or patient-centeredness. Members of the multidisciplinary endometriosis teams from five of the hospitals with expertise in endometriosis were invited, including surgeons, urologists, anaesthesiologists and gastro- enterologists. Patient representatives who are occupationally involved in endometriosis, for instance as board members of a patient interest group, were invited to participate as professionals. Endometriosis is diagnosed and treated in practically all hospitals, ranging from basic medical and operative treatment in general hospitals to more advanced treatment in clinics with special interest in endometriosis.17 Gynaecologists from all types of hospitals throughout the country, including general and tertiary care hospitals, participated as professionals in the expert panel. Patients were recruited from outpatient clinics from hospitals with expertise in endometriosis, the patient interest group and by advertisement on social media.
Delphi procedure
The list of potential interventions to reduce the delay was the basis of the first questionnaire round. The panel members received an email with a link to the online questionnaire for each round. At the beginning of the first round, the participants were asked to provide some background information regarding their personal, professional and relevant medical situation. Panel members who did not complete the first questionnaire were asked to provide this information in the second round. The Delphi procedure consisted of four rounds. The results of the analysis of the previous round served as input for the questionnaire that was used in the next round. Non-responders were sent a reminder after 7-10 days for the first three questionnaire rounds, and up to three reminders for the final round.
First questionnaire round
In the first round, all 36 potential interventions were presented to the expert panel in an online questionnaire. Panel members were asked to assess the individual interventions on relevance. Relevance was graded by the experts as to what extent the intervention was important and feasible in reducing
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