Diagnostic and Treatment Barriers

Centralised sarcoma expertise can improve care quality and diagnostic accuracy but may impose travel, cost, scheduling and work burdens on patients. Previous spectacle wearers were more often non-adherent to newly supplied spectacles than first-time users. Adaptation to discomfort was generally described as manageable and lasting 2-7 days. Continuity problems occurred when patients saw different clinicians and no single professional consistently owned the diagnostic process. Sarcoma rarity, heterogeneity and limited local expertise sometimes required repeat biopsies or referral of tissue samples to specialist pathologists. GPs identified low health literacy as the most common factor associated with poor OAC adherence. Common patient barriers also included lack of awareness of stroke risk, cognitive impairment, limited AF knowledge, and medication concerns. Patients often lacked awareness of early lymphoma symptoms such as painless lymph node swelling, weight loss, and fatigue. Financial hardship was a major barrier to diagnosis and treatment continuity. Lymphoma was frequently misdiagnosed as tuberculosis or bacterial infection at the primary care level. Chemotherapy continuity wa…