Abstract
Recently, the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the health situation of the entire society and necessitated reorganization of health care including oncology. The objective of this study was to examine the perception of medical services by cancer patients during the pandemic and to identify the key elements influencing the level of satisfaction with oncological care. Of note, 394 patients diagnosed with cancer treated in inpatient oncology wards participated in the study (Poland). The diagnostic survey method was used. A survey questionnaire developed by the authors was used and validated the EORTC IN-PATSAT32 questionnaire. The calculations were made in Statistica 10.0 (Statsoft; 2011, Dell Inc., Round Rock, TX, USA). The average general level of satisfaction with oncological care in the study group was 80.77 out of a total score of 100, representing the highest level of satisfaction. Levels of satisfaction varied according to time since diagnosis (longer time—greater satisfaction) and were lower where treatment was delayed or perceived as disorganised. Nearly half of the respondents felt the threat of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, despite the fact that most of them believed that the hospital was well prepared to diagnose and treat cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Convincing patients about the proper preparation of health care for diagnostics and therapy is an important element influencing patient satisfaction with oncological care.
Highlights
The epidemiological situation and the resulting health needs influenced the need to organize medical care in terms of treatment of COVID-19 patients and the method of providing professional care for cancer patients, who in every society constitute a significant percentage of people in need of therapy [5,6]
The objective of this study was to examined the perception of medical services by cancer patients during the pandemic and to identify the key elements influencing the level of satisfaction with oncological care
The vast majority of respondents (86.04%) were of the opinion that the hospital was adequately prepared for diagnostics and treatment of cancer patients during the coronavirus pandemic (SARS-CoV-2), only a small percentage of patients (1.01) was of a different opinion, and the remaining 12.95% did not have an opinion on this topic
Summary
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the resulting disease COVID-19 were detected in Wuhan in late 2019. 132 million cases of COVID-19 infections were confirmed worldwide [1]. In Poland, the first case of the disease was diagnosed on 4 March 2020, and by the end of March, there were 2,321,717 cases of COVID-19 infections, of which 53,045 were fatal [2,3,4]. The epidemiological situation and the resulting health needs influenced the need to organize medical care in terms of treatment of COVID-19 patients and the method of providing professional care for cancer patients, who in every society constitute a significant percentage of people in need of therapy [5,6]
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