title: Outpatient management of intensively treated acute leukemia patients--the patients' perspective.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In recent years, patients with acute leukemia (AL) have, to a greater extent, been managed in an outpatient setting where they live at home but appear every other day for follow-up visits at hospital. This qualitative article elucidates how patients with AL experience the different conditions of the inpatient and outpatient settings and how they reflect on these transitions in order to create meaning in and keep up everyday life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Qualitative semi-structured individual interviews twice with each AL patient focusing on the outpatient setting, impact on everyday life, responsibility and the home were performed. Twenty-two patients were interviewed the first time, and 15 of these were interviewed the second time. The data were analyzed in an everyday life relational perspective.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Outpatient management facilitates time to be administrated by the patients and thereby the possibility of maintaining everyday life, which was essential to the patients. The privacy ensured by the home was important to patients, and they accepted the necessary responsibility that came with it. However, time spent together with fellow patients and their relatives was an important and highly valued part of their social life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Approached from the patient perspective, outpatient management provided a motivation for patients as it ensured their presence at home and provided the possibility of taking part in everyday life of the family, despite severe illness and intensive treatment. This may suggest a potential for extending the outpatient management further and also for patient involvement in own care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Odense University Hospital, Sdr. Boulevard 29, DK-5000, Odense, Denmark. lene.jepsen@rsyd.dk.|Clinical Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. lene.jepsen@rsyd.dk.
authors.forename: Lene Østergaard
authors.initials: LØ
authors.lastname: Jepsen
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Research Unit, Elective Surgery Center, Silkeborg Regional Hospital, Falkevej 3, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mette Terp
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Høybye
authors.affiliation: The National Research Center of Cancer Rehabilitation, Research Unit of General Practice, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Dorte Gilså
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Odense University Hospital, Sdr. Boulevard 29, DK-5000, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Claus Werenberg
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Marcher
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, National University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Lone Smidstrup
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Friis
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007938:Leukemia / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011379:Prognosis; D011788:Quality of Life
keywords: Acute leukemia; Everyday life; Outpatient; Qualitative study; Rehabilitation