TY - JOUR
T1 - Quality of integrated female oncofertility care is suboptimal
T2 - A patient-reported measurement
AU - van den Berg, Michelle
AU - Kaal, Suzanne E. J.
AU - Schuurman, Teska N.
AU - Braat, Didi D. M.
AU - Mandigers, Caroline M. P. W.
AU - Tol, Jolien
AU - Tromp, Jacqueline M.
AU - van der Vorst, Maurice J. D. L.
AU - Beerendonk, Catharina C. M.
AU - Hermens, Rosella P. M. G.
N1 - Funding Information: This research was funded by the Paul Speth Fund and the Radboud Oncology Fund. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Background: Clinical practice guidelines recommend to inform female cancer patients about their infertility risks due to cancer treatment. Unfortunately, it seems that guideline adherence is suboptimal. In order to improve quality of integrated female oncofertility care, a systematic assessment of current practice is necessary. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional survey study in which a set of systematically developed quality indicators was processed, was conducted among female cancer patients (diagnosed in 2016/2017). These indicators represented all domains in oncofertility care; risk communication, referral, counseling, and decision-making. Indicator scores were calculated, and determinants were assessed by multilevel multivariate analyses. Results: One hundred twenty-one out of 344 female cancer patients participated. Eight out of 11 indicators scored below 90% adherence. Of all patients, 72.7% was informed about their infertility, 51.2% was offered a referral, with 18.8% all aspects were discussed in counseling, and 35.5% received written and/or digital information. Patient's age, strength of wish to conceive, time before cancer treatment, and type of healthcare provider significantly influenced the scores of three indicators. Conclusions: Current quality of female oncofertility care is far from optimal. Therefore, improvement is needed. To achieve this, improvement strategies that are tailored to the identified determinants and to guideline-specific barriers should be developed.
AB - Background: Clinical practice guidelines recommend to inform female cancer patients about their infertility risks due to cancer treatment. Unfortunately, it seems that guideline adherence is suboptimal. In order to improve quality of integrated female oncofertility care, a systematic assessment of current practice is necessary. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional survey study in which a set of systematically developed quality indicators was processed, was conducted among female cancer patients (diagnosed in 2016/2017). These indicators represented all domains in oncofertility care; risk communication, referral, counseling, and decision-making. Indicator scores were calculated, and determinants were assessed by multilevel multivariate analyses. Results: One hundred twenty-one out of 344 female cancer patients participated. Eight out of 11 indicators scored below 90% adherence. Of all patients, 72.7% was informed about their infertility, 51.2% was offered a referral, with 18.8% all aspects were discussed in counseling, and 35.5% received written and/or digital information. Patient's age, strength of wish to conceive, time before cancer treatment, and type of healthcare provider significantly influenced the scores of three indicators. Conclusions: Current quality of female oncofertility care is far from optimal. Therefore, improvement is needed. To achieve this, improvement strategies that are tailored to the identified determinants and to guideline-specific barriers should be developed.
KW - cancer
KW - female cancer patients
KW - oncofertility care
KW - quality indicators
KW - quality of care
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85136609178&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.5149
DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.5149
M3 - Article
C2 - 36031940
SN - 2045-7634
JO - Cancer Medicine
JF - Cancer Medicine
ER -