Department of Academic Affairs, Johns Hopkins Medicine Affiliate-Tawam Hospital and UAE University College of Medicine, PO Box 15258, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Support Care Cancer. 2019 Nov;27(11):4229-4235. doi: 10.1007/s00520-019-04705-4. Epub 2019 Mar 7.
The prevalence of cancer in the Middle East is increasing and predicted to nearly double by 2030. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), cancer ranks as the third leading cause of death. Yet, there are limited data describing the needs of cancer patients in the region. The purpose of this study is to compare cancer patients' reports of unmet supportive care needs with the perceptions of their oncologists.
A cross-sectional survey of cancer patients and their oncologists, using an Arabic translation of the short form of the Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-SF34), was conducted at a major oncology center in the UAE between December 2014 and March 2017. Descriptive statistics and McNemar test were calculated to determine differences in unmet need responses between oncologists and patients.
Nine physicians (100%) and 210 of 268 (78.3%) patients completed the questionnaire. Oncologists accurately assessed the level of unmet physical needs of their patients, but significantly underestimated unmet psychological supportive care needs of the patients. Male patients expressed significantly lower (p < 0.05) physical and psychological unmet needs, compared to female patients.
Our findings reveal a general concordance between physician and patient perspectives of unmet supportive care needs. This is reassuring as physician perceptions impact the care patients receive. We present multifaceted supportive care strategies for oncology patients in the region.
中东地区的癌症发病率正在上升，预计到 2030 年将翻一番。在阿拉伯联合酋长国（阿联酋），癌症是导致死亡的第三大原因。然而，目前关于该地区癌症患者需求的资料有限。本研究旨在比较癌症患者未满足的支持性护理需求报告与肿瘤医生的看法。
2014 年 12 月至 2017 年 3 月，在阿联酋的一个主要肿瘤中心，对癌症患者及其肿瘤医生进行了横断面调查，使用了支持性护理需求调查（SCNS-SF34）的阿拉伯语短表。计算了描述性统计数据和 McNemar 检验，以确定医生和患者在未满足的需求反应方面的差异。
9 名医生（100%）和 210 名 268 名患者（78.3%）完成了问卷。肿瘤医生准确评估了患者未满足的身体需求水平，但显著低估了患者未满足的心理支持性护理需求。与女性患者相比，男性患者表达的身体和心理未满足需求明显较低（p < 0.05）。
我们的研究结果显示，医生和患者对未满足的支持性护理需求的看法基本一致。这令人放心，因为医生的看法会影响患者接受的护理。我们为该地区的肿瘤患者提出了多方面的支持性护理策略。
