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Quality of life and satisfaction among prostate cancer patients followed in a dedicated survivorship clinic
Author(s) -
Gilbert Scott M.,
Dunn Rodney L.,
Wittmann Daniela,
Montgomery Jeffrey S.,
Hollingsworth John M.,
Miller David C.,
Hollenbeck Brent K.,
Wei John T.,
Montie James E.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.29215
Subject(s) - survivorship curve , medicine , quality of life (healthcare) , patient satisfaction , prostate cancer , prostatectomy , cancer , sexual function , physical therapy , family medicine , surgery , nursing
BACKGROUND Integrating quality‐of‐life (QOL) outcomes into clinics may assist providers in identifying and responding to problems experienced by cancer survivors. To date, however, patient‐reported outcomes (PROs) such as QOL are used infrequently to guide care. We integrated QOL assessments into a prostate cancer survivorship clinic and compared recovery and satisfaction among men managed in the survivorship clinic with those followed with more routine care. METHODS We conducted a before‐after study comparing 235 men treated surgically for prostate cancer who received routine follow‐up care with 102 men managed in a survivorship clinic characterized by point‐of‐care QOL reporting and integration of QOL scores (EPIC) following radical prostatectomy. We then assessed baseline and postprostatectomy QOL at 6 and 12 months, as well as patient satisfaction, and compared outcomes between groups. RESULTS Although baseline QOL was comparable, scores were generally higher among the survivorship group at 6 months and 1 year compared with those followed with routine care. In particular, sexual function scores were significantly higher among patients managed in the survivorship clinic (52.2 vs 33.6 at 1 year, P < .01). Satisfaction scores were consistently higher in the survivorship clinic group compared with the routine‐care group (all P < .05). CONCLUSIONS Patient QOL and satisfaction were higher among men managed in a survivorship program, suggesting that disease‐specific survivorship clinics that integrate QOL reporting into care pathways may yield better outcomes compared with less tailored approaches to patient care following cancer therapy. Cancer 2015;121:1484–1491. © 2014 American Cancer Society .