Abstract
Goals of work
To investigate whether increased contact with the patient’s general practitioner (GP) soon after cancer treatment can increase patient quality of life (QoL) and satisfaction with follow-up.
Patients and methods
A randomised controlled study with 91 patients from one Norwegian municipality. The intervention group got a 30-min invited consultation with the patient’s GP and an invitation to further GP follow-up. Quality of life and patient satisfaction with diagnosis, treatment and overall care were measured with validated instruments.
Main results
Relatives’ satisfaction with care increased over 6 months in the intervention group (P=0.018), but otherwise, there was no difference between the intervention and control groups concerning QoL, satisfaction with care or number of consultations. Patient satisfaction with care showed a tendency to increase when treatment intent was curative. Some functional QoL measures and satisfaction tended to increase during the first 6 months after treatment. Free text comments suggested that some patients appreciated the contact with their GP.
Conclusion
Some cancer patients benefit from follow-up by their GP. The way to perform this kind of follow-up in primary care, and who these cancer patients are, should be further studied. Short follow-up time and an urban setting may have contributed to the lack of group differences in our study, but patients treated for cancer may have limited need for follow-up as long as they feel well and the situation remains stable.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Francine Cheater and Hilary Hearnshaw at the University of Leicester for permission to translate and use the questionnaire “Patients’ Views of Cancer Services” and Ann G. Nyheim, Cancer Research Unit, University Hospital of North Norway, for the registration and updating of patient data, Britt Willumsen, Institute of Community Medicine, for the recording of patient data, and all GPs in Tromsø who participated in the study: Bjørn Bø, Unni Ringberg, Håvard Nesheim, Morten Høyer, Hasse Melbye, Signe N. Thorvaldsen, Glenn Severinsen, Chun-Lan Zangh, Jostein Jakobsen, Trygve Deraas, Siren B. Johansen, Martin Sørensen, Jon Vold, Geir Pedersen, Arne Haugli, Nils Fleten, Sigbjørn Rønbeck, Eigil Thorsen, Per Liland, Jan I. Mikalsen, Vinjar Fønnebø, Astri Medbø, Per C. Gundersen, Torbjørn Stenanger, Anne H. Hansen, Charlotte Goll, Nils Kolstrup, Bernt Stueland, Dag Nordvåg, Kirsti Eliassen, Ville Svensby, Gunnar Moe, Angelica Winge, Glenn Dunseth, Ragnar Joakimsen, Anton Giæver and Inger J. Samuelsen
Author’s contribution: K.H. developed the core idea, and all the authors were involved in the design of the study. K.H. raised the research funds and translated the “Patients’ Views of Cancer Services” questionnaire. E.R. collected cytological and histological data about patients eligible for the study. K.H. and J.N. prepared the cohort data, carried out the statistical analysis and wrote the first draft of the paper. T.A. prepared the text data. All authors critically reviewed and contributed to the final draft of the paper. We can think of no other persons who fulfill the criteria for authorship.
Funding: The medical fund of the North Norway Savings Bank (Sparebanken Nord-Norge) and the Aakre fund for cancer research at the University of Tromsø. All authors are financially and otherwise independent of the funders.
Ethics: The Regional Committee of Medical Research Ethics in Northern Norway approved this study. The Norwegian Data Inspectorate gave permission to create a patient register. The author K.H. was granted access to patient data by the Norwegian Directorate of Health.
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Holtedahl, K., Norum, J., Anvik, T. et al. Do cancer patients benefit from short-term contact with a general practitioner following cancer treatment? A randomised, controlled study. Support Care Cancer 13, 949–956 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-005-0869-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-005-0869-5