Abstract: PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop a set of criteria and indicators to evaluate the quality of care of patients with oral cavity cancer in Shanghai tertiary hospitals. METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify valuable criteria/indicators for the assessment of the quality of care in oral cavity cancer. A multidisciplinary working group in oral cavity cancer used selected criteria to propose indicators that were evaluated by an in-hospital expert panel. Indicators on which consensus was achieved after many discussions were then reviewed by peer review to develop a final set of indicators following RAND/UCLA appropriateness method. Finally, index cards for each indicator were developed. RESULTS: A list of 38 indicators were proposed through brainstorming at first. After three round of discussion and adjustment, there was consensus on the 31 indicators. With the RAM review of appropriateness of indicators, 28 of 31 proposed indicators achieved consensus, the remaining 3 achieved consensus after the discussion of in-hospital expert panel as the indicators for Shanghai tertiary hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: A set of 31 evidence-based and expert-supported indicators were developed for evaluating the quality of care measures for oral cavity cancer, covering diagnosis, surgical treatment, drug treatment, radiation therapy and administration.

Key words: Oral cavity cancer, Standardized diagnosis and treatment, Quality of care measures, Evaluation indicators