Analysis of the result of 1 583 breast disease patients' postoperative telephone follow-up

Abstract

Objective To understand the rehabilitation of postoperative patients with breast diseases, and to find out the common problems and caring key points, in order to provide a reference for the continuous nursing for breast disease patients after the discharge. Methods A total of 1 583 patients who underwent surgical treatment in thyroid and breast surgical department in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from June 2015 to July 2016 were selected by purposive sampling method. The all patients were followed up on telephone at the time point of 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after discharge. The follow-up was about patients' rehabilitation (wound, functional exercise, self-care ability and drainage) , mental state, satisfaction with follow-up and so on. Results Female accounted for 1 574 of the follow-up cases (99.4%) . The average age of the patients was (47.20±11.97) years old. The proportion of malignant tumors was 74.6%. The average body mass index (BMI) was (22.66±2.5) kg/m2. The average surgery waiting days and the average hospitalization days were (4.12±2.40) and (8.54±3.40) respectively. The follow-up loss rate at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after discharge was 2.27% (36/1 583) , 1.90% (22/1 158) , 2.93% (26/888) and 4.89% (9/184) respectively. The differences of benign and malignant diseases between patients with different BMI and age were statistically significant (P<0.05) . Conclusions Telephone follow-up is a simple and effective way to understand the rehabilitation of patients, and is worthy of clinical use. Follow-up results suggests that caregivers should concern about postoperative wound healing, affected upper limb functional rehabilitation, and mental health in patients with breast diseases, so as to take effective measures to improve patients life quality according to actual problems. Key words: Breast disease; Surgery; Continuous nursing; Telephone follow-up