The Effect of a Patient Navigator on Treatment Abandonment and Follow-up for High Grade Osteosarcoma Patients in the Philippine General Hospital

Treatment abandonment for osteosarcoma is a significant problem in developing countries with rates as high as 70%. This study aimed to determine the effect of a patient navigator on treatment abandonment and patient follow-up of osteosarcoma patients at a tertiary referral center. A retrospective re...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP Vol. 22; no. 9; pp. 2873 - 2877
Main Authors: Gaston, Czar Louie, Taleon, Kathleen, Barsales, Ken, Dimayuga, Cesar, Estanislao, Jochrys, Fajardo, Pamela, Quintos, Albert, Rubio, Donnel, Wang, Edward, Alcasabas, Ana Patricia
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Thailand West Asia Organization for Cancer Prevention 01.09.2021
Subjects:
Adolescent
Female
Hospitals, General
Humans
Male
Neoplasm Grading
Osteosarcoma - pathology
Osteosarcoma - therapy
Patient Dropouts - statistics & numerical data
Patient Navigation - statistics & numerical data
Philippines
Retrospective Studies
Tertiary Care Centers
Philippines
LMIC (Low to middle income country)
navigator
abandonment
osteosarcoma
ISSN:2476-762X, 1513-7368, 2476-762X
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Treatment abandonment for osteosarcoma is a significant problem in developing countries with rates as high as 70%. This study aimed to determine the effect of a patient navigator on treatment abandonment and patient follow-up of osteosarcoma patients at a tertiary referral center. A retrospective review of osteosarcoma patients was performed investigating 2 cohorts based on the start of the patient navigator. Group 1 (Pre-Patient Navigator, n=46) were treated from January 2016 to December 2017 while Group 2 (Post-Patient Navigator, n=29) were treated from January 2018 to June 2019. The primary outcome investigated was treatment abandonment defined as missing 4 or more consecutive weeks of treatment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to investigate the effect of the patient navigator on the cohorts. Treatment abandonment rates for the Pre-Patient Navigator group was significantly higher compared to those with a patient navigator (50% vs 6%, p=0.0001). Abandonment for the pre-navigator group occurred at a mean of 2.9 months (0 - 9 months, median 3 months). Fourteen of 23 patients who abandoned from Group 1 did not proceed to neoadjuvant chemotherapy while 3 patients abandoned after completing 1 cycle of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. In the patient navigator group, no patients abandoned prior to completing 3 cycles of chemotherapy. One patient abandoned after refusing a below knee amputation after 3 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 1 patient did not complete further chemotherapy after having a hip disarticulation. Patient feedback on the patient navigator experience was favorable. Having a patient navigator from diagnosis throughout treatment reduced treatment abandonment rates in osteosarcoma patients and may serve as a model for other low to middle income countries.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:2476-762X
1513-7368
2476-762X
DOI:10.31557/APJCP.2021.22.9.2873