Bradford Natalie K, Walker Roderick, Henney Roslyn, Inglis Po, Chan Raymond J
1 Queensland Youth Cancer Service, Children's Health Queensland, Brisbane, Australia .
2 School of Nursing and Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia .
J Adolesc Young Adult Oncol. 2018 Feb;7(1):37-45. doi: 10.1089/jayao.2017.0042. Epub 2017 Sep 21.
The consequences of cancer and treatment on fertility can be a continuing source of distress for adolescents and young adults. The study aims were to assess the effects of bundled interventions on clinical practice concerning fertility in young people aged 14-25 years with cancer.
Bundled interventions, including development of quality indicators, resources, and targeted education, were introduced during 2015 across five cancer centers. Data before interventions (2012-2014) were compared with data prospectively collected during 2015-2016. Relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to assess effects of interventions.
Compared with the pre-intervention cohort (n = 260), the post-intervention cohort (n = 216) was 1.47 times more likely to have documented discussion of risk of infertility (95% CI 1.12-1.63, p = <0.001). Similarly, documented referral to fertility specialists was more likely in the post-intervention cohort (RR 1.53, 95% CI 1.26-1.87, p = <0.001) as was documented fertility preservation outcomes (RR 2.56, 95% CI 1.91-3.44, p = <0.001). These differences were significant across age, gender, and diseases. Females had greater improvement in documented risk of infertility discussion between cohorts (RR 1.70, 95% CI 1.19-2.08, p = <0.001). Among diseases, the greatest improvements were seen in those with brain cancers (RR 2.15, 95% CI 1.28-3.62, p = 0.004) and soft tissue sarcoma (RR 2.60, 95% CI 1.17-5.78, p = 0.02).
We have demonstrated the effects of bundled interventions to improve clinical practice associated with fertility preservation in young people with cancer. Interventions were successful for reducing disparities identified in the pre-intervention cohort associated with gender and certain diseases. Assessment of the quality of patient care is not possible without accurate, consistent documentation.
