Abstract
Objective to assess and summarize the best scientific evidence from randomized controlled clinical trials about telephone follow-up of patients after radical prostatectomy, based on information about how the phone calls are made and the clinical and psychological effects for the individuals who received this intervention.Method the search was undertaken in the electronic databases Medline, Web of Science, Embase, Cinahl, Lilacs and Cochrane. Among the 368 references found, five were selected.Results two studies tested interventions focused on psychological support and three tested interventions focused on the physical effects of treatment. The psychoeducative intervention to manage the uncertainty about the disease and the treatment revealed statistically significant evidences and reduced the level of uncertainty and anguish it causes.Conclusion the beneficial effects of telephone follow-up could be determined, as a useful tool for the monitoring of post-prostatectomy patients.
Highlights
The education of postoperative patients is fundamental to provide appropriate knowledge to individuals with a view to self-care at home and, to reduce the occurrence of complications after the discharge and to improve their recovery and quality of life(1).The educative interventions related to the patients’ preparation for hospital discharge should be based on the following priorities: increase of individual knowledge about self-care and promotion of behavioral change to stimulate self-care(1).The diagnosis of prostate cancer can result in anguish and stress for the patient, mainly regarding the uncertainty about the treatment and recovery(2-3)
Radical prostatectomy is the most used procedure among the different treatments for this type of cancer, but can cause changes in patients’ quality of life, as they may suffer from urinary incontinence and sexual impotence, among other symptoms, deriving from the surgical procedure(3-4)
The inclusion criteria for the articles were: clinical trials(13), published in English, Portuguese or Spanish, involving patients submitted to radical prostatectomy and that used phone calls as the intervention for post-discharge followup
Summary
The education of postoperative patients is fundamental to provide appropriate knowledge to individuals with a view to self-care at home and, to reduce the occurrence of complications after the discharge and to improve their recovery and quality of life(1).The educative interventions related to the patients’ preparation for hospital discharge should be based on the following priorities: increase of individual knowledge about self-care and promotion of behavioral change to stimulate self-care(1).The diagnosis of prostate cancer can result in anguish and stress for the patient, mainly regarding the uncertainty about the treatment and recovery(2-3). The education of postoperative patients is fundamental to provide appropriate knowledge to individuals with a view to self-care at home and, to reduce the occurrence of complications after the discharge and to improve their recovery and quality of life(1). Education and counseling are regular and fundamental items for care delivery to men submitted to this type of surgery, in the pre as well as in the postoperative phase These items should be focused on providing the best information on the patients’ preparation for surgical wound care and indwelling urinary catheter maintenance at home, as well as on coping with physical side effects, such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction, and the consequent psychological suffering these effects cause for the men and their wives(3-5)
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