ESTRO 2024 - Abstract Book

S2773

Interdisciplinary - Health economics & health services research

ESTRO 2024

An online survey (created in Survey Monkey TM ) consisting of 12 questions was distributed to 36 national oncology societies registered at ESTRO. The national societies were asked to re-distribute the survey to persons relevant for brachytherapy within their country. The survey was open from May to June 2023. Survey questions were separated in to three categories. 1) The current utilisation of brachytherapy, including question like: “How many centres perform brachytherapy in your country?” . 2) The national organisation of brachytherapy, including questions like: “Is there a central register in your country?” . 3) The future of brachytherapy, including questions like: “Which clinical studies are currently being performed in your country?”. Questionnaires were considered incomplete, hence not analysed, if <6 questions were answered, e.g. no quantitative answers such as number of centres or sites treated were given. The current utilisation and the national organisations of brachytherapy were analysed at a national level. The answers regarding the future of brachytherapy were considered on a responder-based level. A demographic overview of the distribution of the brachytherapy organisation (central registry vs none and designated person responsible vs none) were created, fig. 1. The number of brachytherapy centres were reported both in absolute numbers and relative to the number of inhabitants (source: www.statista.com, September 2023). Both the highest and lowest response in each country were considered. A site-specific overview of the brachytherapy utilisation in Europe were determined. Finally, the number of countries involved in brachytherapy studies were documented.

Results:

A total of 98 answers were received from 26 countries. Of these, were 80 complete and analysed. The number of respondents in a given country ranged from 1 to 26, with 15 countries providing a single response, and two countries providing >10 responses. Seven countries stated to have a centralized register for brachytherapy, while 14 countries stated not to have any. Responses in the remaining five countries included both yes and no. 34 responders across 19 countries indicated being appointed as the contact/responsible person for brachytherapy within the country, fig. 1. In three countries, more than one replied being such an appointed person.