Routine follow-up care for head and neck cancer after curative treatment: A 3-year experience of measuring patients' self-reported needs, preferences, quality of life and attitudes towards follow-up.
Eur J Cancer Care (Engl)
; 31(3): e13581, 2022 May.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35343002
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate and describe attitudes, quality of life (Qol), needs and preferences of patients with head and neck cancer after 3 years of follow-up care.METHODS:
This is an exploratory prospective study of recurrence-free patients. Survey results were compared between 1-, 2- and 3-year post-treatment and by disease characteristics.RESULTS:
A total of 116 patients were included with 46% oropharyngeal cancer, 66% early stage disease and 41% having had surgery. After 3 years, most patients reported good to excellent health (88%), however expressed uncertainty regarding recurrence (66%), multiple needs (information on prognosis 91%, long-term sequalae 72%) and wanted to continue with follow-up (96%). Few changes were observed over time, with exceptions. Patients with more advanced disease, oral cancer or who had surgery experienced declining Qol (p < 0.050). Women experienced improvements in Qol domains (pain p = 0.028, speech p = 0.009) over time. Attitudes towards communication with oncologists demonstrated improved patient comfort (p = 0.044) over the 3 years; however, patients' beliefs about their prognosis did not (71% vs. 73% vs. 77% did not believe they were cured, p = 0.581).CONCLUSION:
Although patients' needs, preferences and attitudes towards follow-up did not change drastically, important needs persist. This work supports identifying individual patient needs and the challenges in addressing prognostic expectations.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Calidad de Vida
/
Neoplasias de Cabeza y Cuello
Tipo de estudio:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Female
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Eur J Cancer Care (Engl)
Asunto de la revista:
ENFERMAGEM
/
NEOPLASIAS
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Canadá