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Supportive follow-up in patients treated with radical intent for high-grade glioma
Susan Catt1, Anthony Chalmers, Giles Critchley
1Sussex Health Outcomes, Research & Education in Cancer (SHORE-C), Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QG, UK.
Unlabelled:
Ongoing supportive follow-up for patients with malignant glioma lacks good evidence to define and guide practice, and certain approaches have previously been criticized. In the UK, it commonly involves routine hospital visits with imaging to monitor treatment effects and detect disease progression.
Aims:
Through use of an observational study evaluate and compare oncologist-led follow-up with a multidisciplinary group follow-up method from the perspective of patients and caregivers.
Materials & Methods:
A total of 40 patients, and 32 of their caregivers, were recruited 3 months after completing radical radiotherapy treatment. Face-to-face interviews conducted at home with patients gathered information about access to and experiences of follow-up services. Standardized questionnaires measured patients' quality of life and unmet care needs, and caregivers' psychological wellbeing. Assessment was repeated three times over a 6-month period.
Results:
Inevitable attrition left 26/40 patients and 19/32 caregivers with complete data. Most (65%) patients' quality of life improved or was maintained over the study period. However, psychological support for patients and caregivers was suboptimal, notably 56% of caregivers had probable psychiatric morbidity. Though few significant differences were found between the two follow-up methods, multidisciplinary follow-up provided better continuity of care and more efficient test result provision.
Conclusion:
Innovative interventions are required to ameliorate psychological distress in patients and caregivers.
