Department of Palliative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Medical Center Freiburg, University of Freiburg, Robert-Koch-Str. 3, 79106, Freiburg, Germany.
Department of Palliative Care, Marienhaus Hospital, An der Goldgrube 11, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
BMC Psychol. 2023 Apr 17;11(1):119. doi: 10.1186/s40359-023-01151-0.
Lung cancer survivors often suffer from physical, emotional and social long-term effects of disease and treatment. Caregivers are also affected by the cancer diagnosis throughout the course of the disease and are frequently burdened by high levels of psychosocial stress. However, little is known about how follow-up care after the completed treatment phase can help to improve long-term quality of life. In the context of patient-centred cancer care, considering the survivors' and caregivers' perspectives is an important step toward improving care structures. We therefore explored how lung cancer survivors and their caregivers experience follow-up examinations and their possible psychosocial effects on everyday life in order to shed light on what support is helpful for improving their quality of life.
25 survivors after curative lung cancer treatment and 17 caregivers underwent a face-to-face semi-structured, audio-recorded interview that was analysed using qualitative content analysis.
Especially burdened cancer survivors and caregivers described recurring anxiety before a follow-up appointment influencing their everyday life. At the same time, follow-up care also provided reassurance of still being healthy and helped regain a sense of security and control until the following scan. Despite possible long-term consequences in everyday life, the interviewees reported that the survivors´ psychosocial needs were not explicitly assessed or discussed. Nevertheless, the interviewees indicated that conversations with the physician were important for the success of "good" follow-up care.
Anxiety surrounding follow-up scans, also known as "scanxiety", is a common problem. In this study, we expanded on previous findings and found a positive aspect of scans, namely regaining a sense of security and control, which can strengthen the psychological well-being of the survivors and their families. To optimize follow-up care and improve the quality of life of lung cancer survivors and caregivers, strategies to integrate psychosocial care, like the introduction of survivorship care plans or increased use of patient-reported outcomes, should be explored in the future.
肺癌幸存者通常会受到疾病和治疗的身体、情感和社会长期影响。照顾者也会受到癌症诊断的影响，并经常承受高水平的心理社会压力。然而，对于完成治疗阶段后的后续护理如何帮助提高长期生活质量，知之甚少。在以患者为中心的癌症护理背景下，考虑到幸存者和照顾者的观点是改善护理结构的重要一步。因此，我们探讨了肺癌幸存者及其照顾者如何体验随访检查以及它们对日常生活可能产生的心理社会影响，以便了解哪些支持有助于提高他们的生活质量。
25 名接受根治性肺癌治疗后的幸存者和 17 名照顾者接受了面对面的半结构化、录音采访，采访内容采用定性内容分析进行分析。
负担过重的癌症幸存者和照顾者描述了在随访预约前反复出现的焦虑，这影响了他们的日常生活。与此同时，随访护理也提供了健康状况的保证，并帮助他们重新获得安全感和控制感，直到下一次扫描。尽管在日常生活中可能会产生长期后果，但受访者报告说，幸存者的心理社会需求没有得到明确评估或讨论。尽管如此，受访者表示，与医生的交谈对“良好”随访护理的成功很重要。
围绕随访扫描的焦虑，也称为“扫描焦虑”，是一个常见问题。在这项研究中，我们扩展了以前的发现，并发现扫描的一个积极方面，即重新获得安全感和控制感，这可以增强幸存者及其家人的心理健康。为了优化随访护理，提高肺癌幸存者和照顾者的生活质量，未来应探索整合心理社会护理的策略，例如引入生存者护理计划或增加使用患者报告的结果。
