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A cross-sectional population-based survey looking at the impact of cancer survivorship care plans on meeting the needs of cancer survivors in the posttreatment stage

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of receiving a survivorship care plan (SCP) on meeting cancer survivors’ overall, informational, physical, emotional, and practical needs. Since the recommendation for implementation of SCPs, there have been numerous studies on their effectiveness with mostly inconclusive results.

Methods

All Nova Scotia survivors meeting specific inclusion and exclusion criteria were identified from the Nova Scotia Cancer Registry and sent the 83-item survey to assess experiences and needs across five domains (overall, informational, physical, emotional, and practical). Descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages) and chi-square analyses were used to examine and report survey findings.

Results

The response rate was 44.6%, with 1514 respondents. SCPs were significantly associated (p < 0.00001) with receiving timely help and support to meet survivors’ overall, informational, physical, emotional, and practical needs posttreatment. For the most part, survivors’ clinical characteristics, such as cancer type, time since treatment, chronic comorbidities, and metastases, did not result in differences among the five outcomes.

Conclusions

Those who received a SCP reported higher agreement on all five outcomes in comparison to those who did not receive a SCP. Further work should evaluate the delivery of SCPs and the components of SCPs that are most likely to contribute to positive survivor outcomes.

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Data availability

The principal investigator (Robin Urquhart) has full ownership of the primary data. Access may be allowed, if requested, depending on the parameters of the request. Due to privacy restrictions, the data cannot be placed in a public repository at this time.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Research In Medicine studentship funding from Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine Gladys Osman Estate. The authors would also like to acknowledge Gordon Walsh from the Nova Scotia Cancer Registry for his assistance in this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Soleil Chahine & Robin Urquhart

  2. Nova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Robin Urquhart

Authors
  1. Soleil Chahine
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  2. Robin Urquhart
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Correspondence to Soleil Chahine.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Chahine, S., Urquhart, R. A cross-sectional population-based survey looking at the impact of cancer survivorship care plans on meeting the needs of cancer survivors in the posttreatment stage. Support Care Cancer 27, 3785–3792 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04685-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-019-04685-5

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