Examining patient and visit characteristics associated with the cancer patient experience.

Abstract

204 Background: Your Voice Matters (YVM) is a 28-item patient experience survey for adult cancer outpatients undergoing treatment in Ontario.The purpose was to examine patient and visit characteristics associated with YVM responses. Methods: YVM was administered to eligible patients (n=8,704) at 14 centres in 2017.Respondents answered items on a five-point Likert scale (4 or 5 = positive response). A multivariable logistic regression (MLR) was undertaken for each YVM item.Variables (reference group) included: disease site (heamatology), age group (65+), sex (female), rurality (urban), last visit type (consult), income quintile(highest) and immigration tercile (lowest). Significant results ( p<.05) vary by MLR model. Therefore a p-value range is provided for all significant variables for all MLR models. Results: Patients were more likely to have a less positive experience if they had central nervous system ( p =.000-.013), gastrointestinal ( p =.004-.026), head and neck ( p =.002-.025), or lung cancer ( p =.017-.049); were between the ages of 18-39 years ( p = <.0001-.048); were female ( p =.0001-.022); received chemotherapy( p =.0001-.047); lived in a rural location ( p =.042); from a mid-( p =.027-.045) and mid-high income quartile ( p =.021); and in the high- ( p =.002-.043) and middle-immigrant terciles ( p =.028-.047), when compared to the reference group. Patient were more likely to have a more positive experience if they had skin cancer ( p =.004-.032); were between the ages of 40-64 years ( p =.003-.033); receiving radiation ( p =.0001-.041) or a minor procedure ( p =.015); and were from the mid-low ( p =.003-.042) and low income quartile ( p =.001-.032), when compared to the reference group. Conclusions: The cancer patient experience varies by patient and visit characteristics. Future initiatives should examine these characteristics to better understand their populations to create a more tailored approaches to cancer care.