Background: Holistic and multidisciplinary management of medical and psychosocial problems of cancer patients is essential to provide quality cancer care. There are many problems faced by regional patients and assessment of their physical, emotional, psychological and social needs. While there are some studies examining supportive needs in urban settings, regional settings remain unexplored.
Material and methods: All patients receiving care in Goulburn Valley Health Oncology Service for solid cancers were screened routinely for supportive care since March 2012 and were included in this retrospective study. Participants identified their needs across multiple domains and completed a Supportive Needs Screening Tool (SNST, developed by PeterMacCallumCancerCentre, Melbourne).
Results: 208 patients completed the SNST, where 62.0% were women. Breast was the most common site (26.9%), followed by colorectal (26.4%), genitourinary (12.5%) and lung (12.0%). 86% participants with metastatic disease and 75.9% with early disease had at least one physical health concern. Participants with metastatic disease had greater number of physical health concerns (p<0.05) and difficulties with ADLs (p<0.05). Despite an insignificant difference between men and women with regards to physical or psychological concerns, more women have received psychological treatment (p<0.05). The study revealed a positive correlation (0.5) between psychological health and difficulties with ADLs. 66% of participants used support service(s): Home Help (13%), Podiatry (9.6%) and Dietician (9.6%) were most common. 53% of participants requested further information and, requests regarding treatment regime (38%), physical needs (24%) and practical or financial needs (20%) were most frequent.
Conclusions: Significant number of patients in regional setting has both physical and/or psychological problems that need to be addressed. There appears to be a large number of patients accessing supportive care services in regional areas.