Preoperative Group Consultation Prior to Surgery for Colorectal Cancer-an Explorative Study of a New Patient Education Method.

Patients with colorectal cancer may lack information about the disease and treatment. In 2017, a group consultation before start of surgery was introduced at a university hospital in western Sweden to inform about the disease, treatment, and ongoing scientific studies. The primary aim of this study was to explore the experience of the patients attending the group consultation. Based on semi-structured interviews with patients with colorectal cancer, a questionnaire was constructed and administered to patients, both those attending and those not attending the group consultation. In total, 124 patients were included and the response rate was 86%. A majority of patients attending the group consultation would recommend it to someone else with the same illness. Of the patients attending the group consultation, 81% (30/37) patients agreed, fully or partially, that attending the group consultation had increased their sense of control and 89% (33/37) that the information they received at the group consultation increased their feeling of participation in the treatment. Preoperative group consultation is a feasible modality for informing and discussing the upcoming treatment for colorectal cancer with the patients, and the patients who attended the group setting appreciated it. Attending the group consultation increased the patients' feeling of active participation in their treatment and their sense of control, which could possibly both improve their experience of their illness and facilitate recovery. CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT03888313.

Predicting life with a permanent end colostomy: A prospective study on function, bother and acceptance.

AIM: The factors that influence a patient's experience of a colostomy are not known. The aim of this study was to characterise stoma function, stoma-related bother and acceptance among patients operated for rectal cancer and to investigate if there were any preoperative personal factors with predictive impact on long-term stoma-related bother. METHODS: The QoLiRECT (Quality of Life in RECTal cancer) study is a prospective multicentre study of patients with rectal cancer. This was a subgroup analysis of patients with a permanent colostomy with a 2-year follow-up. Penalised regression models with shrinkage estimation were used to predict the 1-and 2-year bother using baseline data. The predictive value and the importance of the included variables were evaluated using bootstrap resampling techniques. RESULTS: A total of 379 patients were included. Overall stoma acceptance was high and a majority of patients were not bothered by their stoma; 77% and 83% at 1 and 2 years, respectively. The subgroup of patients with stoma-related bother had a high prevalence of difficulties, especially fear of leakage, and a low stoma acceptance in daily life. Both clinical and personal factors were associated with stoma-related bother. The most important factors were quality of life and physical health, but the prediction accuracy was low. CONCLUSIONS: Stoma-related bother was associated with overall stoma dysfunction. As stoma-related bother is a multifactorial problem, it was not possible to predict which patients will experience stoma-related bother. It is therefore of importance to prevent stoma-related symptoms and optimise stoma function to reduce long-term bother and increase stoma acceptance.

Agreement between patient reported outcomes and clinical reports after radical prostatectomy - a prospective longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: In clinical research information can be retrieved through various sources. The aim is to evaluate the agreement between answers in patient questionnaires and clinical reports in a study of patients after radical prostatectomy and patient characteristics associated with agreement between these two data sources. METHODS: In the prospective non-randomized longitudinal trial LAParoscopic Prostatectomy Robot Open (LAPPRO) 4003 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy at 14 centers in Sweden were followed. Analysis of agreement is made using a variety of methods, including the recently proposed Gwet's AC1, which enables us to handle the limitations of Cohen's Kappa where agreement depends on the underlying prevalence. RESULTS: The incidence of postoperative events was consistently reported higher by the patient compared with the clinical reports for all outcomes. Agreement regarding the absence of events (negative agreement) was consistently higher than agreement regarding events (positive agreement) for all outcome variables. Overall impression of agreement depends on which measure used for the assessment. The previously reported desirable properties of Gwet's AC1 as well as the patient characteristics associated with agreement were confirmed. CONCLUSION: The differences in incidence and agreement across the different variables and time points highlight the importance of carefully assessing which source of information to use in clinical research. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN06393679 ( www.isrctn.com ). Date of registration: 07/02/2008. Retrospectively registered.

Patients with rectal cancer are satisfied with in-hospital communication despite insufficient information regarding treatment alternatives and potential side-effects.

AIM: Patients with rectal cancer may undergo treatment such as surgery and (chemo)radiotherapy. Before treatment, patients are informed of different options and possible side-effects. The aim of the study was to evaluate the patients' experience of communication with healthcare personnel at time of diagnosis and after one year. METHOD: A total of 1085 patients from Denmark and Sweden were included. They answered a detailed questionnaire at diagnosis and at the one year follow-up. Clinical data were retrieved from national quality registries. RESULTS: Response rates were 87% at baseline and 74% at one year. Overall the patients were very satisfied with the communication with healthcare personnel. However, some patients reported insufficient information regarding treatment options and possible side-effects. Only 32% (335/1050) and 24% (248/1053), respectively, stated that they were informed about possible sexual and urinary dysfunction before treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Even though patients felt that they received insufficient information regarding side-effects on sexual and urinary function, they were generally satisfied with the communication with the healthcare personnel. Since overall satisfaction with the level of information was very high, it is unlikely that further information to patients with rectal cancer in the surgical and oncological settings will improve satisfaction with communication.

Retrospective review of risk factors for surgical wound dehiscence and incisional hernia.

BACKGROUND: Several factors and patient characteristics influence the risk of surgical wound dehiscence and incisional hernia after midline laparotomy. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether a specified, or not specified, suture quota in the operative report affects the incidence of surgical wound complications and to describe the previously known risk factors for these complications. METHODS: Retrospective data collection from medical records of all vascular procedures and laparotomies engaging the small intestines, colon and rectum performed in 2010. Patients were enrolled from four hospitals in the region Västra Götaland, Sweden. Unadjusted and adjusted Cox regression analyses were used when calculating the impact of the risk factors for surgical wound dehiscence and incisional hernia. RESULTS: A total of 1,621 patients were included in the study. Wound infection was a risk factor for both wound dehiscence and incisional hernia. BMI 25-30, 30-35 and >35 were risk factors for wound dehiscence and BMI 30-35 was a risk factor for incisional hernia. We did not find that documentation of the details of suture technique, regarding wound and suture length, influenced the rate of wound dehiscence or incisional hernia. CONCLUSIONS: These results support previous findings identifying wound infection and high BMI as risk factors for both wound dehiscence and incisional hernia. Our study indicates the importance of preventive measures against wound infection and a preoperative dietary regiment could be considered as a routine worth testing for patients with high BMI planned for abdominal surgical precedures.

Younger age at onset of colorectal cancer is associated with increased patient's delay.

AIM: This study aimed to investigate if younger age at diagnosis of colorectal cancer was associated with a diagnostic delay. The secondary objective was to evaluate if symptomatology varied with age. METHOD: The study population consisted of the cohorts from two prospective multicentre studies conducted in Sweden and Denmark, the QoLiRECT and QoLiCOL studies. These studies investigated the quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer. Participants responded to the validated questionnaires used to extract information on patient's and doctor's delay as well as first presenting symptoms. Clinical variables were retrieved from the Swedish Colorectal Cancer Registry and the Danish Colorectal Cancer Group Database. RESULTS: 2574 patients were included, 1085 from QoLiRECT and 1489 from QoLiCOL. The probability of an increased patient's delay was higher when age decreased by 10 years (the SD in both QoLiRECT and QoLiCOL), adjusted OR 1.19 (95%CI: 1.10; 1.30), p < 0.001. A similar effect was found for doctor's delay, but the age effect was smaller in this case, adjusted OR 1.05 (95%CI: 0.97; 1.15), p = 0.177. When the age effect was analysed non-linearly, an increased probability of a delay was seen for patients from around 60 years and below. Younger patients were equally or more likely to report the symptoms of blood in stool, diarrhoea, constipation, mucus in faeces, faecal urgency, faecal emptying difficulties and pain compared to older patients. CONCLUSION: Younger patients were more likely to have an increased patient's delay, probably contributing to a delayed diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Symptomatology at diagnosis was similar irrespective of age.