Primary care patients presenting with unexpected weight loss in Australian general practices: replication of a diagnostic accuracy study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We calculate positive predictive values (PPVs) of patients presenting with unexpected weight loss (UWL) being diagnosed with cancer within 6 months, using data from a population of Australian primary care patients to replicate results from a previous UK study.

Design

A diagnostic accuracy study involving calculation of the PPV for any cancer using retrospective data from routinely collected electronic healthcare records. The index date is defined as the first recorded UWL presentation and the reference standard is cancer diagnosis within 6 months of the index date.

Setting

This study uses primary care data from the Patron primary care database, linked to hospital admissions data and the Victorian Cancer Registry. We include only patients who presented to the

SUBMITTER: Lee A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12306460 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature