An observational pilot study to evaluate the feasibility and quality of oncological home-hospitalization

The objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility of oncological home-hospitalization and to compare its quality with standard ambulatory hospital care in terms of patient-reported quality of life and related endpoints by means of a set of validated patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).

An observational cohort study (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT03073499) was conducted, allocating patients to (partial) home-hospitalization or standard ambulatory hospital care. PROMs were completed by both cohorts at start of treatment and eight weeks later. An additional study-specific questionnaire was presented to the intervention cohort at study-end assessing their satisfaction with and preferences for the provided homecare.

Thirty patients received home-hospitalization, corresponding to 116 interventions. For twenty-eight patients, this comprised all assessments required prior to administration of treatment, which resulted in a significant reduction of waiting time for treatment administration at the hospital in comparison with the control cohort (n = 24) (average reduction of 1:12 h, p < 0.001). Two patients received actual subcutaneous therapy at home. None of the PROM's evaluated revealed significant differences between both cohorts (all p > 0.05). 29/30 patients of the intervention cohort were satisfied with the provided homecare and preferred to have it continued, 22/25 patients declared to feel at home at least as safe as in the hospital. No serious safety concerns were reported.

The results of this pilot study suggest that (partial) oncological home-hospitalization is feasible, safe and statistically not affecting patient-reported quality of life. Furthermore, this care model was acceptable and preferred by a substantial number of cancer patients.