Sammanfattning
Background: Prostate cancer is currently the third most common type of cancer in Europe and
more than 4000 Danish men were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2013. The highest prevalence of
prostate cancer is found in men aged 65 or older. The work flow of patients receiving chemotherapy
is a pre-chemo outpatient consultation with a blood test on day 1 and treatment on day 2 in every
cycle.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the safety, patient satisfaction and feasibility of
telephone consultation instead of attendance at the clinic in patients receiving chemotherapy.
Methods: This prospective study included patients with metastatic prostate cancer who were found
eligible for chemotherapy with docetaxel every 3 weeks. 33 patients were included in the period May
2011 to March 2012. The mean age was 72. The intervention covered telephone consultation with a
specialist nurse instead of outpatient attendance the day before chemotherapy. The grade of toxicity
was confirmed immediately before chemotherapy was administered. Patient satisfaction was
recorded by highly structured interview and furthermore by using a 5-step Likert scale. The study
recorded the number of minutes the patient spent in attendance for consultation at the clinic instead
of telephone consultation. Feasibility was recorded by use of logbooks and the number of
discharged chemotherapy patients.
Results: A total of 24 patients completed the intervention. 23 were interviewed. 21 patients responded
"very satisfactory" and 2 "satisfactor" to phone consultation as a method.
Conclusion: The method can be considered feasible and safe. Patents expressed high satisfaction
with telephone consultation. Especially due to the time saved on transport and at the hospital.
Relevance to clinical practice: Fewer patients in attendance at the clinic. High patient satisfaction and
benefit for both the weakened patient and the active patient. It can enable both patients and relatives
to maintain a more normal life.