Classification Into Different Patient Groups-A Step Toward Tailoring Care After Major Oncological Surgery?
Petra Bor, Karin Valkenet, Sjaak Bloem and 2 others
PMID 39372242WHAT IT FOUND
Most patients shifted to low acceptance and control after major cancer surgery.
Those in this group had significantly worse physical functioning and higher anxiety than those who kept high acceptance and control. Frequent post-op checks may help target support.
Key findings
01The proportion of patients with high acceptance and control dropped from 35% preoperatively to 22% and 27% at 1 and 3 months after discharge, while the group with low acceptance and control rose to 47% and 45%.
02Patients with low acceptance and control had significantly lower physical functioning scores than those with high acceptance and control at all three time points.
03Patients with low acceptance and control had significantly higher anxiety and depression scores than those with high acceptance and control at all three time points.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
A significant amount of data was missing at follow-up (30 patients at 1 month, 34 at 3 months), and the authors noted that dropouts had more complications and longer hospital stays, meaning the results may not represent the most severely affected patients. The study was conducted at a single center in the Netherlands using a Dutch questionnaire, which may limit generalizability to other populations. The preoperative questionnaires were filled out retrospectively after surgery, which introduces potential recall bias. The correlation between the 'perceived control' score and a standard self-efficacy measure was weak (r=0.347), raising questions about the validity of this specific component of the model. This is an observational study, so it cannot prove that low acceptance causes poor recovery; it only shows an association.
Declared interests
One author is sponsored by Jansen-Cilag BV, a pharmaceutical company, though this specific study did not receive funding from them. Other authors declared no conflicts or grants for this specific study.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the association between low acceptance/control and poor recovery as proof that improving acceptance will directly improve physical function. This is an observational study, not a trial of an intervention, so it cannot establish causality.