The willingness of general practitioners to be involved in the follow-up of adult survivors of childhood cancer.
BACKGROUND
Long-term follow-up of childhood cancer survivors is mainly organised by paediatric oncologists and until now general practitioners (GPs) are rarely involved. To ensure appropriate follow-up for all survivors into adulthood, a combined effort of paediatric oncologists and general practitioners might be the solution. We investigated the willingness of GPs, who had followed a postgraduate course on late effects of cancer treatment, to participate in a shared care model for follow-up of adult childhood cancer survivors as well as what their requirements would be in case of participation.


METHODS
From the Northern Netherlands, 358 GPs participated in a postgraduate course on late effects in paediatric cancer survivors. After the course, they were asked to complete a 10-item questionnaire on motivation to participate in the regular follow-up of adult childhood cancer survivors as well as their conditions to participate.


RESULTS
The response rate was 65%. Of the responders, 97% were willing to participate in a shared care model for follow-up and 64% felt that it was their responsibility to be in charge of childhood cancer survivors. The main requirements for participation were the availability of guidelines (64%), sufficient information about the patient's medical history (37%), and short communication lines (45%). The main barriers to participate were workload (16%), lack of knowledge (15%), and lack of communication (13%).


CONCLUSIONS
A significant number of GPs are ready to participate in the long-term follow-up of adult childhood cancer survivors if adequate guidelines and medical information is provided and communication lines are clear.
Blaauwbroek
Ria
R
Department of Paediatrics, Division of Paediatric Oncology, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, P.O. Box 30 001, 9700 RB, Groningen, The Netherlands. r.blaauwbroek@bkk.umcg.nl
Zwart
Nynke
N
Bouma
Martijn
M
Meyboom-de Jong
Betty
B
Kamps
Willem A
WA
Postma
Aleida
A
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000523:psychology*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000145:classification; D017741:Survivors