Patient-reported outcomes 1 year after oesophageal cancer surgery

Acta Oncol. 2020 Jun;59(6):613-619. doi: 10.1080/0284186X.2020.1741677. Epub 2020 Mar 20.

Abstract

Purpose: To improve survivorship in patients who have undergone curatively intended treatment for oesophageal cancer, we aimed to identify key targets for future patient-reported outcomes research.Methods: This nationwide Swedish prospective cohort study enrolled patients between 2014 and 2019 who had undergone surgical resection for oesophageal cancer 1 year earlier. Eight well-validated patient-reported outcome measures, including health-related quality of life, psychological status and sleep, were presented as proportions and mean scores (MS) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results: Among 281 participants, approximately half of the patients reported problems associated with food intake such as eating restrictions (49%) and food aversion (47%). Other common problems were sleep (51%), fatigue (41%) and anxiety (36%). Fewer patients suffered from financial difficulties (9%), trouble swallowing saliva (4%) and hair loss (7%). However, these problems were perceived as highly burdensome on an individual level.Conclusions: This nationwide, population-based study indicates that symptom burden is high in oesophageal cancer survivors 1 year after surgery. The most common problems are associated with food intake, sleep, fatigue and anxiety. However, less frequent symptoms were sometimes more debilitating for the individual patient.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Alopecia / epidemiology
  • Anxiety / epidemiology
  • Confidence Intervals
  • Deglutition Disorders / epidemiology
  • Eating
  • Economics
  • Esophageal Neoplasms / psychology
  • Esophageal Neoplasms / surgery*
  • Family
  • Fatigue / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Food
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Patient Reported Outcome Measures*
  • Postoperative Complications / epidemiology*
  • Prospective Studies
  • Quality of Life
  • Saliva
  • Sleep Wake Disorders / epidemiology
  • Survivorship
  • Sweden / epidemiology
  • Time Factors