Long-term follow-up of childhood cancer survivors in the Murcia Region: Preferences and attitudes of Primary Care professionals

Abstract

Abstract Objective To assess attitudes, beliefs and knowledge of primary medical care professionals as regards the follow-up of Childhood Cancer Survivors (CCS) and the introduction of a Long-Term Follow-Up Program for Childhood Cancer Survivors in the Region of Murcia (PLASESCAP-MUR). Material and methods Descriptive cross-sectional study using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. These questionnaires were sent to all primary medical care professionals in Murcia Health District 1. Results Response rate of 58% (100/172), with 71% and 22% being family physicians and paediatricians, respectively, of whom 49% provided medical care to a CCS in the last 5 years, with 84% reporting that they never or rarely received a detailed report of overall assessment of the survivor. More than 75% found that access to detailed follow-up information was quite or very useful; 95% prefer to consult experts when providing medical care to survivors, and 80% believe that improving the quality of the environment may decrease the morbidity and mortality of the survivors. A statistically significant relationship was found between the length of practicing medicine and the perception of the importance of environmental factors. Conclusions It seems to be important to increase the training of primary care professionals for the long-term follow-up of CCS, as well as having the detailed information through a personalised long-term follow-up of each survivor. PLASESCAP-MUR offers an integrated follow-up to CCS in a model of shared care between Long Term Monitoring Units and Primary Care Units.