The line “talk to your doctor,” which appears in so many medical-related
advertisements, is apparently right. An analysis of colorectal cancer (CRC)
patients who maintained regular contact with their clinicians (doctors, nurses,
specialists) indicates those patients are more likely to follow recommendations
for detecting cancer recurrence than patients who do not. In fact, researchers
found CRC patients were more than twice as likely to adhere to medical follow
up procedures if they had regular patient clinician information engagement
(PCIE).
The study was conducted by a team
of researchers from the Center of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research
(CECCR) at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication.
The research team—doctoral
student Andy S.L. Tan; Mihaela Moldovan-Johnson, Ph.D.; doctoral student Sarah
Parvanta; Stacy W. Gray, MD; Katrina Armstrong, MD; and Robert C. Hornik,
Ph.D.—followed over 300 CRC patients since 2005.
The results of their work
currently appear in the journal The Oncologist, the official journal of the
Society for Translational Oncology. The article title is “Patient-Clinician
Information Engagement Improves Adherence to Colorectal Cancer Surveillance after
Curative Treatment: Results from a Longitudinal Study.
” The patients in the
study—roughly half male, half female; mostly white (88.5 percent); a mean age
of 68; and most (72.5%) indicating concern about cancer recurrence—responded to
surveys over the three-year span of the study. All reported whether they had
received specific follow up screening tests—two or more office visits, two or
more serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) tests, and one colonoscopy. The study
tracked how often these procedures were received in comparison to the amount of
interaction patients had with their clinicians.
While only 41 percent reported
receiving all three surveillance procedures, the researchers did note that
patients who had consistent PCIE were 2.8 times more likely to adhere to
recommended follow up tests.
In the article the research team
acknowledges that several socio-demographic and clinical factors affecting
whether or not someone follows advice cannot be modified. These include the
patients’ age, income level, race, and severity (stage) of the cancer. However,
they note that understanding the impact and effects of PCIE can help health
professionals develop pilot interventions to improve adherence through patient
active engagement with their clinicians on cancer-related information.
“We recommend that prospective
studies be considered to determine if pilot programs encouraging active patient
engagement with clinicians about cancer-related information would be beneficial
in terms of increasing the proportion of patients receiving post-treatment
surveillance testing, and ultimately in improving patient outcomes and
survival,” the researchers write in their conclusion.
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