INTRODUCTION: @entity2 is associated with a poor prognosis, if detected late in the disease course. Delay in seeking health care, wrong diagnosis and delay in specialist referral can contribute to delay in diagnosis. AIM: This study was done to assess physician related delays in the diagnosis of @entity2 and the treatments given before presenting to our center. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 96 consecutive @entity1 diagnosed with @entity2 were enrolled in this study. Details of previous physician consultations, their specialization, diagnoses made and treatments given were obtained from records available with the @entity1 . RESULTS: @entity1 , on an average consulted two physicians before presenting to our center. Less than half of the physicians (45%) suspected @entity2 during their evaluation. Around 18% of physicians made an incorrect diagnosis of @entity378 , out of whom, 88.6% had prescribed anti-tuberculous therapy. Only 27% of physicians referred the @entity1 to higher medical centres for evaluation. Pulmonology Specialists (PS) were the most likely to diagnose @entity2 (p<0.0001). General Medicine Specialists (GMS) were the most likely to misdiagnose @entity5 as @entity378 , followed by General Practioners (GP) when compared to PS (p-value =0.0422). CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that, many physicians have a low index of suspicion to diagnose @entity358 and most commonly misdiagnose it as @entity378 . It is likely that most @entity1 failed to seek the services of PS directly or through referral either due to a shortage of PS or due to other reasons.

Physician Related Delays in the Diagnosis of XXXX in India.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['Patients', 'patients'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['cancer'] @entity2 :: ('MESH:D008175', 'Disease') :: ['Lung cancer', 'lung cancer'] @entity358 :: ('MESH:D008171', 'Disease') :: ['lung malignancy'] @entity378 :: ('MESH:D014376', 'Disease') :: ['tuberculosis']
@entity2 :: (MESH:D008175,Disease) :: ['Lung Cancer']
