Background: Cancer rehabilitation medicine is a growing field in physiatry, but more studies are needed to demonstrate how physiatry can contribute to patient care within the cancer care continuum.
Objective: To quantify and describe physiatric participation during a multidisciplinary tumor board for breast cancer patients.
Design: A prospective descriptive study.
Setting: A multidisciplinary breast tumor board at a large academic medical center.
Participants: Five hundred thirty-seven breast cancer cases presented at a multidisciplinary breast tumor board.
Interventions: Not applicable.
Main outcome measures: The number of times physiatry actively participated in a multidisciplinary breast tumor board in the categories of referral to physiatry, referral to rehabilitation services, referral to other services, advice given on patients/symptom management, and discussion of available services.
Results: Out of 537 breast cancer cases presented, 221 cases (41.2%) resulted in a physiatry recommendation for referral to either physiatry, rehabilitation services, other services, or advice on patient and symptom management.
Conclusion: Physiatry can actively participate in the care of cancer patients during a multidisciplinary breast cancer tumor board.
© 2019 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.