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Follow-up Reality for Breast Cancer Patients - Standardised Survey of Patients and Physicians and Analysis of Treatment Data.

ABSTRACT: Introduction: Currently, about 360?000 breast cancer patients who could, after completion of their primary therapy, take advantage of follow-up options are living in Germany. Up to now very little is known about the extent to which the available options are used and as to how the follow-up reality is experienced and evaluated. Thus, an explorative examination among the patients and their physicians was undertaken. Patients and Methods: All patients who underwent surgery in a certified breast centre between 2007 and 2013 received a standardised questionnaire; at the same time the physicians responsible for the follow-up were invited to answer a standardised questionnaire. Results: 920 patients (response rate: 61?%) with a median age of 65 years (32-95) could be analysed. 99?% of the participants stated that they regularly attended follow-ups. The personal contact with the physician (mean value: 4.4) and the reassurance that the cancer disease had not recurred (mean value: 4.5) were described on a scale of 0 to 5 to be two of the most important factors of the follow-up. Deficits were expressed with regard to psychosocial care (70?%) and the perception and treatment of physical complaints (55?%). In addition, 105 physicians returned completed questionnaires (response rate: 12?%). For asymptomatic patients the physicians performed the following examinations most frequently: anamnesis (92?%), physical examination (87?%) as well as laboratory tests (63?%) and tumour marker determinations (40?%). Conclusion: On the whole it became clear that the vast majority of the patients took advantage of the follow-up options. From the patient's perspective the importance of the follow-up lies in contact to the physician and the comforting assurance that the breast cancer has not relapsed. Deficits are seen in the psychosocial care and the perception and treatment of physical impairments. Not recommended examinations were employed by a significant proportion of the surveyed physicians.

SUBMITTER: Feiten S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4873294 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Follow-up Reality for Breast Cancer Patients - Standardised Survey of Patients and Physicians and Analysis of Treatment Data.

Feiten S S Dünnebacke J J Friesenhahn V V Heymanns J J Köppler H H Meister R R Thomalla J J van Roye C C Wey D D Weide R R

Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde 20160501 5

<b>Introduction:</b> Currently, about 360 000 breast cancer patients who could, after completion of their primary therapy, take advantage of follow-up options are living in Germany. Up to now very little is known about the extent to which the available options are used and as to how the follow-up reality is experienced and evaluated. Thus, an explorative examination among the patients and their physicians was undertaken. <b>Patients and Methods:</b> All patients who underwent surgery in a certif ...[more]

PMID: 27239065

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Project description:IntroductionVaginismus is mostly unknown among clinicians and women. Vaginismus causes women to have fear, anxiety, and pain with penetration attempts.AimTo present a large cohort of patients based on prior published studies approved by an institutional review board and the Food and Drug Administration using a comprehensive multimodal vaginismus treatment program to treat the physical and psychologic manifestations of women with vaginismus and to record successes, failures, and untoward effects of this treatment approach.MethodsAssessment of vaginismus included a comprehensive pretreatment questionnaire, the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), and consultation. All patients signed a detailed informed consent. Treatment consisted of a multimodal approach including intravaginal injections of onabotulinumtoxinA (Botox) and bupivacaine, progressive dilation under conscious sedation, indwelling dilator, follow-up and support with office visits, phone calls, e-mails, dilation logs, and FSFI reports.Main outcome measuresLogs noting dilation progression, pain and anxiety scores, time to achieve intercourse, setbacks, and untoward effects. Post-treatment FSFI scores were compared with preprocedure scores.ResultsOne hundred seventy-one patients (71%) reported having pain-free intercourse at a mean of 5.1 weeks (median = 2.5). Six patients (2.5%) were unable to achieve intercourse within a 1-year period after treatment and 64 patients (26.6%) were lost to follow-up. The change in the overall FSFI score measured at baseline, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year was statistically significant at the 0.05 level. Three patients developed mild temporary stress incontinence, two patients developed a short period of temporary blurred vision, and one patient developed temporary excessive vaginal dryness. All adverse events resolved by approximately 4 months. One patient required retreatment followed by successful coitus.ConclusionA multimodal program that treated the physical and psychologic aspects of vaginismus enabled women to achieve pain-free intercourse as noted by patient communications and serial female sexual function studies. Further studies are indicated to better understand the individual components of this multimodal treatment program. Pacik PT, Geletta S. Vaginismus Treatment: Clinical Trials Follow Up 241 Patients. Sex Med 2017;5:e114-e123.

Dataset Information

Follow-up Reality for Breast Cancer Patients - Standardised Survey of Patients and Physicians and Analysis of Treatment Data.

Publications

Follow-up Reality for Breast Cancer Patients - Standardised Survey of Patients and Physicians and Analysis of Treatment Data.

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