Professional patient navigation in a hospital setting: a randomized controlled trial
- PDF / 433,113 Bytes
- 13 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 104 Downloads / 192 Views
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Professional patient navigation in a hospital setting: a randomized controlled trial Aleksandra Berezowska 1,2 & Ellen Passchier 1 & Eveline Bleiker 2 Received: 2 May 2020 / Accepted: 26 August 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Summary Purpose This study aimed to determine the effect of patient navigation on health-related quality of life, distress, self-care knowledge, self-efficacy, satisfaction, and healthcare usage. Methods Patients newly diagnosed with ovarian, vulvar, endometrial, melanoma stage III/IV, lung, or renal cancer were randomly assigned to either care as usual or care as usual plus consultations with a patient navigator (i.e., specially trained oncology nurse who monitors, advises, and refers patients to supportive cancer care). Measures included the EORTC-QLQ-C30, distress thermometer, and study-specific questions inspired by the Symptom-Management Self-Efficacy Scale Breast Cancer, Patient Satisfaction with Cancer Care Scale, and the Medical Consumption Questionnaire. Measures were completed before randomization (baseline) and at 1 month, 3 months, and 5 months after baseline. Results In the case of health-related quality of life, no significant difference was observed between the intervention (n = 42) and the control group (n = 47). Consumption of supportive cancer care was low for both the intervention and the control group but relatively lower for the intervention group. Also, participants who consulted the patient navigator seemed to have higher levels of self-efficacy and satisfaction. Conclusion Although the intervention sorted no relevant effects on health-related quality of life, it did affect patients’ experience of cancer care and self-efficacy. We recommend that patient navigators monitor and advise on unmet supportive care needs, but only in the case of high-risk patients. Furthermore, considering current and prior research, it is wise to study patient navigation using more sensitive outcome measures than health-related quality of life. Keywords Patient navigation . Unmet needs . Supportive care . Cancer
Introduction From diagnosis through treatment and during survival, cancer patients experience physical, psychosocial, and practical problems. For instance, patients have reported high levels of fatigue [1], anxiety [2], and financial strain [3, 4]. To help patients and their families prevent and/or cope with cancerrelated problems, supportive care services such as physical therapy, psychosocial counseling, and dietary guidance are available during all phases of cancer care [5]. Despite the
* Eveline Bleiker [email protected] 1
Center for Quality of Life, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Mailbox 90203, 1006 BE Amsterdam, Netherlands
2
Division of Psychosocial Research and Epidemiology, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Mailbox 90203, 1006 BE Amsterdam, Netherlands
widespread availability of supportive cancer care, a substantial number of patients experience unmet supportive care needs related to supportive care domains such as informatio
Data Loading...
