The addition of counseling sessions provided by the oncology clinical pharmacist improved patient satisfaction among patients with solid tumors and lymphoma and was associated with better quality of life; however, this did not affect patient beliefs about their treatment regimens. The results of the study were presented by Reem Alharbi, PharmD, a hematology/oncology clinical pharmacist at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center, at HOPA’s 16th Annual Conference.
This cross-sectional, survey-based study had patients self-administer a questionnaire at an oncology infusion center in Saudi Arabia between September 2018 and April 2019. Eligible patients were aged 14 years or older, had newly diagnosed or relapsed/refractory solid tumors and lymphoma, and completed at least two cycles of chemotherapy/immunotherapy. The questionnaire asked about demographics, patient satisfaction, beliefs about medicine, and quality of life.
A total of 178 patients (mean age, 46.31 years) responded to the survey, representing an 87% response rate. Most respondents were female, and the most common primary disease was breast cancer. Most patients (94%) were satisfied with the counseling sessions provided by the oncology clinical pharmacist. About one-third of patients (35.71%) believed that their treatment was effective, while 54.49% were uncertain, and 6.16% did not believe it was effective.
There was a negative correlation between disbelief in medication effectiveness and patient satisfaction (P=0.002). There were no differences in mean score concerning medication beliefs between previously treated and newly diagnosed patients (P=0.346).
Patient satisfaction was positively associated with quality of life, including general, physical, psychological, social, and environment domains. The top three chemotherapy protocols associated with quality of life were ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine; 85.45%; n=13), R-CHOP (rituximab, prednisone, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin; 82.81%; n=6), and TC (docetaxel, cyclophosphamide; 81.17%; n=5).
Reference
Alharbi R, Samarkandi H, Yahia M, et al. The impact of pharmacist based patient education program on patients satisfactions and medication beliefs in ambulatory care oncology setting. Presented at HOPA 16th Annual Conference. March 2020, Tampa, Florida.
