title: Follow-up care of patients treated for breast cancer: a structured review.
abstract: Breast cancer follow-up services vary, with little evidence to support which practice is best. A systematic review methodology was employed to identify and integrate primary research on the effectiveness of follow-up services. From 4418 articles identified by searches, 38 were eligible for review inclusion. Data were not sufficiently homogenous to integrate statistically, however the following patterns of findings were observed: patient survival and quality of life were not affected by intensity of follow-up or location of care; patients held positive attitudes towards follow-up but psychological distress was consistently high regardless of location of services; few studies assessed patient involvement in treatment choices; studies' research quality was poor with inadequate measures of effectiveness or research designs. There is insufficient primary empirical evidence to draw broad conclusions regarding best practice for breast cancer follow-up care in terms of (a) patient involvement in care, (b) reductions in morbidity, and (c) cost effectiveness of service provision.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences and Clinical Evaluation, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK.
authors.forename: Rosalind F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.forename: Hilary L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Bekker
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Dodwell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000379:methods; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D018714:Radiotherapy, Adjuvant; D018570:Risk Assessment; D006113:United Kingdom