Page 19 - Diagnostic delay of endometriosis

The second part of the thesis is directed at the general practitioners’ perspective. Chapter four describes knowledge and clinical strategies with regard to endometriosis in general practitioners. In chapter five, barriers and facilitators to the timely diagnosis of endometriosis in primary care are presented, which have been obtained from focus group interviews with general practitioners.
In the third part, gynaecologists’ view on diagnostic delay is discussed. Chapter six presents the results of a questionnaire study directed at gynaecologist to evaluate their diagnostic and therapeutic strategies, as well as their opinion on factors contributing to the diagnostic delay of endometriosis.
The final part of the thesis is directed at possible interventions to reduce diagnostic delay. Chapter seven describes the results of a Delphi study, in which an expert panel comprised of patients and professionals critically assess and prioritize a selection of possible interventions to reduce the interval between onset of symptoms and diagnosis. This study combines the information yielded in the studies presented in the first six chapters, and forges the views of a wide variety of stakeholders into a set of preferred interventions to reduce diagnostic delay. The preceding chapters are discussed in chapter eight, in which future perspectives on reducing the delay are debated from a multidimensional point of view.
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