Post-Cancer Treatment Reflections by Patients Concerning the Provisions and Support Required for a Prehabilitation Programme

Jandu, Amrita Kaur; Nitayamekin, Arpanun; Stevenson, Josh; Beed, Martin; Vohra, Ravinder S.; Wilson, Vincent G.; Lobo, Dileep N.

Abstract

Background: Evidence suggests that physical fitness interventions, mental health support and nutritional advice before surgery (prehabilitation) could reduce hospital stay and improve quality of life of patients with cancer. In this study we captured the opinions of a group of patients with cancer undergoing these interventions after treatment to discover what a prehabilitation programme should encompass. Methods: Patients from the Cancer and Rehabilitation Exercise (CARE) programme based in Nottingham took part in a 26-point online questionnaire about the design of prehabilitation programmes. Results: The questionnaire was completed over a 2-week period in December 2021 by 54 patients from the CARE programme. Their responses were as follows: 44 (81.5%) participants would have participated in prehabilitation had it been available to them and 28 (51.9%) ranked physical exercise as the most important component. Forty (74.1%) participants believed the counselling aspect of prehabilitation would have contributed to a successful outcome and 35 (64.8%) thought dietary advice would have benefitted them before surgery. Thirty-one (57.4%) participants preferred the programme to take place in a fitness centre, rather than at home or hospital and 43 (79.6%) would have liked to have known about prehabilitation from their doctor at the time of diagnosis. Conclusions: Patients are interested in prehabilitation to become more physically fit and mentally prepared for surgery. They expressed the need for a focus on physical exercise, counselling to improve mental health and personalised nutritional advice. Tailoring a prehabilitation programme, with input from patients, could contribute to improving patient outcomes following cancer treatments.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 24, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Sep 12, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-11
• Deposit Date: Oct 5, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 5, 2023
• Journal: World Journal of Surgery
• Print ISSN: 0364-2313
• Electronic ISSN: 1432-2323
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 47
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 2724-2732
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-023-07170-7
• Keywords: Surgery
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/25394450
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00268-023-07170-7
• Additional Information: Accepted: 24 July 2023; First Online: 12 September 2023; : ; : None of the authors has a direct conflict of interest to declare. DNL has received an unrestricted educational grant from B. Braun for unrelated work. He has also received speaker’s honoraria for unrelated work from Abbott, Nestlé and Corza.; : Ethical approval was obtained from the University of Nottingham, School of Life Sciences Research Ethics Committee (B081121VW) prior to the commencement of data collection.