Brennan Kelly E, Hall Stephen F, Yoo John, Rohland Susan L, Theurer Julie, Peng Yingwei, Feldman-Stewart Deb
Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Department of Otolaryngology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2019 Mar;28(2):e12993. doi: 10.1111/ecc.12993. Epub 2019 Jan 17.
The experience of a cancer diagnosis and receiving treatment can have profound impacts on health and subsequently patients may require significant support. Often, these needs are not identified or addressed. Given that less is known about the follow-up requirements for head and neck cancer patients, this study aimed to describe their follow-up needs and preferences.
In Ontario, Canada from 2012-2014, 175 patients completed a questionnaire at an appointment one year after treatment. To identify associations between characteristics and follow-up needs, bivariate analyses and ordinal logistic regression models were employed.
A diversity of follow-up requirements was found. The most commonly reported follow-up needs were having imaging tests performed (66%), receiving information on treatment side effects (84%) and prognosis details (95%). Many patients experienced an improvement in their health (79%) but notably, not all. Characteristics such as psychosocial and well-being measures (functional status, anxiety, fear of recurrence, quality of life), attitudes towards follow-up (reassurance, communication), demographics (age, sex, marital status), and stage of disease predicted needs and preferences for follow-up care (p < 0.05).
While awaiting top-level evidence, this work demonstrates the variation in needs and supports the identification of patients with higher follow-up requirements by screening for well-being and enquiring about expectations in follow-up care.
癌症诊断及接受治疗的经历会对健康产生深远影响，患者随后可能需要大量支持。但这些需求往往未被识别或满足。鉴于对头颈部癌症患者的随访要求了解较少，本研究旨在描述他们的随访需求和偏好。
2012年至2014年在加拿大安大略省，175名患者在治疗一年后的一次预约就诊时完成了一份问卷。为确定特征与随访需求之间的关联，采用了双变量分析和有序逻辑回归模型。
发现了多种随访需求。最常报告的随访需求是进行影像学检查（66%）、获取治疗副作用信息（84%）和预后详情（95%）。许多患者的健康状况有所改善（79%），但值得注意的是，并非全部。心理社会和幸福感指标（功能状态、焦虑、对复发的恐惧、生活质量）、对随访的态度（安心、沟通）、人口统计学特征（年龄、性别、婚姻状况）以及疾病分期等特征预测了随访护理的需求和偏好（p < 0.05）。
在等待顶级证据的同时，这项工作展示了需求的差异，并支持通过筛查幸福感和询问随访护理期望来识别随访需求较高的患者。
