B42

Womens comments on their breast cancer and treatment experiences: 5 years on (The START trial CRUK/96/001)

Judith Mills, Clare Moynihan, Joanne Haviland, Judith Bliss, Penelope Hopwood, on behalf of the START Trial Management Group

The Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, UK

Background

Spontaneously proffered comments and letters were submitted by women returning QL booklets in a UK trial of adjuvant radiotherapy for early breast cancer (START) at 0, 6, 12, and 24 months and subsequently invited from all women at the 5yr, final follow-up. The 2 yr follow-up showed a significant association with decreased functioning and higher levels of anxiety in women who reported co-morbidity. This study reviews comments received at 5 yrs.

Method

A comments page was included in the 5-year QL booklet and patients were invited to complete it. Nine common themes, including co-morbidity, life events and psychological problems, were identified from the proffered comments up to 2 years and these categories were re-assessed and extended at 5yrs.

Results

60.2% (1040) patients provided comments in their 5-year QL assessment. Their mean age was 62.4yr (32-92) compared to 61.2yr (33-88) for those not writing comments. There was no difference in the psychological status of the women who wrote compared to those that did not. The number of categories had to be expanded to take into account the variety of treatment effects, positive comments and future concerns. Analysis is underway for the 5 yr data based on 18 main themes.

Conclusion

Analysis at 2 years suggested that contextual information was relevant to the interpretation of QL data and that co-morbidity had an effect on patients emotional and functional level. The new analysis will highlight a more representative range of problems and outcomes experienced 5 years since the diagnosis and treatment of early breast cancer.