The relationship between melanoma thickness and time to diagnosis in a large population-based study

Abstract

Objective: To examine the relationship between melanoma thickness and reported time from first recognition and from first physician contact to the diagnosis of invasive melanoma. Design: Telephone survey of patients recently diagnosed as having melanoma, combined with relevant pathological data (including melanoma thickness and morphologic structure) from the population-based Queensland Cancer Registry. A test-retest study (n=176) was also conducted. Setting: Population-based study in Queensland. Participants: Residents of Queensland (n=3772) who had been diagnosed as having invasive melanoma between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2003. Main Outcome Measures: Prepresentation time (time be..