Abstract
PurposeDiscrepancies exist between healthcare provider and patient perceptions surrounding breast cancer treatment. Significant treatment changes in the last 10 years have made re-evaluation of these perceptions necessary.MethodsPhysicians and nurses involved in breast cancer treatment, and patients who had received breast cancer chemotherapy (past 5 years), were questioned using an Internet survey. Participants ranked physical concerns (treatment side effects), psychological concerns, priorities for treatment selection, and side effects to be avoided during treatment. Patients were asked about desired treatment information/information sources. Rankings were calculated using the mean value of scores. Spearman’s rank correlation was used to determine the concordance of rankings among groups.ResultsSurvey respondents included 207 patients, 185 physicians, and 150 nurses. Patients and nurses similarly ranked distressing physical concerns; physician rankings differed. Quality of life (QoL) and treatment response ranked high with physicians and patients when considering future treatment; nurses prioritized QoL. All three groups generally agreed on ranking of psychological concerns experienced during chemotherapy, explanation of treatment options, and how treatment decisions were made, although more patients thought treatment decisions should be made independently. Healthcare providers reported providing explanations of treatment side effects and information on physical/psychological support options while patients felt both were lacking. Concordance was calculated as 0.47 (patient–physician), 0.83 (patient–nurse), and 0.76 (physician–nurse). Patients desired additional information, preferring healthcare providers as the source.ConclusionsSpecific areas for improvement in breast cancer patient care were identified; programs should be implemented to address unmet needs and improve treatment in these areas.
Highlights
The progress made in breast cancer treatment over the last decade, including new diagnostic methods and approval of targeted therapeutic agents, has improved patient survival rates [1]
Physicians who belonged to a department of breast oncology/surgery, department of general surgery, or department of oncology, who had experience treating more than 10 breast cancer patients per month with chemotherapy, and nurses who had managed at least one breast cancer patient in the past month were recruited
Fifty-six patients (27.1%) were currently receiving chemotherapy; all others had a history of chemotherapy within the previous 5 years
Summary
The progress made in breast cancer treatment over the last decade, including new diagnostic methods and approval of targeted therapeutic agents, has improved patient survival rates [1]. These treatment improvements have been observed for both early breast cancer (eBC) and metastatic breast cancer (mBC). Ratings of nurses and physicians strongly correlated with each other; ratings for some survey items showed a low Support Care Cancer (2020) 28:2331–2338 correlation with patients [2]. Recent studies have reported discrepancies between the rankings of patients and physicians regarding the benefit of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy [3, 4]. The most prominent unmet needs of patients were reported to be those in the psychological domain [7]
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