Development of a National Consensus Minimum Data Set for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Oral Cancer: Towards Precision Management

Abstract

Background: Due to the complexity of prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment in the process of providing care for patients with oral cancer, a large amount of data elements have been processed. The present study was conducted to provide a minimum data set for managing the data generated in the diagnosis and treatment processes of oral cancer by reviewing the specialized literature, medical records and by gathering expert opinions. Method: This research was a descriptive cross-sectional study with the following steps: reviewing texts and records, developing a draft of data elements, organizing a panel of experts, Delphi techniques, and creating a final pattern. Results: The framework proposed in this study for managing the data generated in the diagnosis and treatment processes of oral cancer was divided into six sections: management data with four-axis, historical data with four-axis, paraclinical indicators with two-axis, clinical indicators, data related to the therapeutic measures, and mortality data. Conclusion: The systematic collection of the data associated with the diagnosis and treatment of the patients with oral cancer could provide a good basis for identifying patients or those who are susceptible to this type of cancer in the community. These data can also be used in programs to prevent the development and/or emergence of the disease, thus the health of the community.