The following is a summary of “Lung Cancer Patients’ and Caregivers’ Satisfaction With Multidisciplinary Versus Serial Care in a Community Healthcare Setting: A Prospective Comparative-Effectiveness Cohort Study,” published in the November 2023 issue of Pulmonology by Shao, et al.
When an oncologic situation is complicated, multidisciplinary care is suggested. The Researchers examined how happy lung cancer patients and their caretakers were with Multidisciplinary Care versus regular, repeated care. In a prospective group comparative-effectiveness study of Multidisciplinary versus Serial Care, they looked at approved surveys given to patients and their caretakers at the start of the study, 3 and 6 months later. They used multivariate mixed linear models to examine differences between groups, changes over time, and how groups and time periods affected happiness. One group, Multidisciplinary Care (N = 159), was older than Serial Care (N = 297) (69 vs. 66 years), in a clinical stage I or II (41% vs. 33%), and had less serious symptoms (45% vs. 35%).
The demographics and socioeconomic backgrounds of the providers (N = 99 for Multidisciplinary Care and 123 for Serial Care) were similar. When people got Multidisciplinary Care, they were more likely than other patients to think their care was better (P <.01). Patients and caregivers in Serial Care were happier with their treatment plan (P <.01 for patients, P =.04 for caregivers). Still, at 6 months, patients in Multidisciplinary Care were better (P <.01).
Patients and caregivers in Multidisciplinary Care were happier with their team members overall (P <.01). Still, at 6 months, Serial Care patients were happier with their team members even more (P =.04). At 6 months, Multidisciplinary Care patients thought they had more financial stress than Serial Care patients (P =.04). Patients and caregivers had different thoughts about the care they received. People who got Multidisciplinary Care said they had a better experience with their care and those on their team. People who got Serial Care said they were happier with their treatment plan.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1525730423001250