Specialist referrals and diagnostic delays in motor neurone disease: Mapping patients’ journey through hoops and hurdles in healthcare

Abstract

Motor neuron disease (MND) is an uncommon but invariably fatal condition, with a median survival of 24–48 months from symptom onset. Although there is no cure at the moment, early diagnosis is crucial to enable timely access to multidisciplinary care, and enrolment in clinical trials utilising investigational therapies. Unfortunately, diagnostic delays remain common, and the average delay between symptom onset and diagnosis is 12 months. Large numbers of specialist referrals have been suggested as a key contributor to diagnostic delays.We conducted a retrospective review of the medical records of patients diagnosed with MND in Lancashire and South Cumbria, to investigate whether large numbers of specialty referrals are a common occurrence in MND.Our review identified that 35% of patients with MND were seen by two or more specialties before being referred to neurology. This rose to 49% when patients with bulbar onset disease were considered. 9% of cases saw three or more specialists. There was a statistically significant correlation between the number of specialist referrals and delays in neurology referral. We hope our findings will increase awareness of the importance of early neurology referral in the diagnosis of MND and promote the use of the MND Red Flag tool as a means of identifying patients in need of prompt neurological evaluation.

Keywords

• Motor neuron disease
• MND
• Diagnostic delay
• Neurology referrals