title: Patients' views of follow-up after treatment for gynaecological cancer.
abstract: This project set out to quantify women's views of routine follow-up. Women attending for routine follow-up after gynaecological cancer completed a questionnaire. A total of 54% (48/89) reported increased anxiety prior to their appointment, and 10% (9/90) still felt more anxious afterwards. Most women (82/92, 89%) preferred to see a hospital doctor, and preferred this to a review by a specialist nurse or general practitioner (p<0.001). Women thought the examination was the most important part of the visit (p<0.0001). Women viewed the specialist nurse's role as listening to concerns and taking blood, rather than detecting recurrence (p<0.0001). Women ranked detection of recurrence as the most important reason for attending for follow-up (p<0.0001). Overall, women think that detection of recurrence is the primary rationale for routine follow-up. Their views need to be taken into consideration when considering changes in the provision of follow-up care.
authors.affiliation: Sheffield Gynaecological Cancer Centre, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK. fiona.kew@sth.nhs.uk
authors.forename: F M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Kew
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Galaal
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Manderville
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010349:Patient Compliance; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations