Patients’ expectations of treatment of sequela after cancer in primary care: an interview study

Oral conference presentation.

BACKGROUND
The treatment of most cancer types has improved, which has led to an increased prevalence of cancer survivors in all age-groups. In Denmark, approximately 40,000 patients are diagnosed with cancer per year. 60% of these are expected to be alive after five years. Consequently, patients are living longer after a cancer
diagnosis. More than 300,000 patients live with cancer in Denmark and about 50% experience sequela caused by either the disease or the treatment of cancer. Therefore, physiotherapists in primary care meet an increasing number of these patients referred by the general practitioner. Currently, patients’ expectations with their treatment of sequela are limited. The aim is to explore expectations when referred general practice to physiotherapeutic treatment of sequela after cancer.

Methods
Participants were recruited through The Danish Cancer Society and a private physiotherapy clinic. Individual semi-structured interviews were carried out using Microsoft Teams based on an interview guide that was piloted before the interviews. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data was analyzed using Malterud´s principles of systematic text condensation and coded in NVivo 12.

Results
We conducted 10 interviews with a duration between 40-60 Minutes. Four main themes emerged: (1) Importance of the physiotherapist´s approach, (2) The benefits of meeting patients with similar symptoms, (3) Importance of receiving knowledge, and (4) Patients seek to maintain their current state more often
than aiming for improving their condition.

Conclusions
Patients seek information about sequela after cancer by all health professionals in primary care. They expect support to maintain their current condition and prefer to meet others with similar symptoms.