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Effectiveness of preoperative group education for patients with colorectal cancer: managing expectations

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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the potential beneficial effect of preoperative face-to-face group education after colonic surgery in a pre-existing ERAS pathway environment.

Methods

Patients were randomized to cohorts for 3 weeks to either the standard preoperative counseling by the colorectal surgeon and the nurse practitioner (control group) or to the additional group education (intervention group). Patients scored EORTC-QLQ-info25 after the preoperative information was completed and the EORTC-QLQ-30 and EORTC-QLQ-29 prior to surgery and 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery.

Results

A significantly better level of information was scored considering the expectations and patient involvement in the intervention group. This coincided with a significant reduction of the in-hospital stay, enhanced return to the preoperative global health status, and persistent improved body image after surgery.

Conclusion

By investing in the preoperative group education patients develop more realistic expectations resulting in a perceived improved quality of life and body image 1 month after operation coinciding with a statistically significant reduction in duration of in-hospital stay in this study.

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Availability of data and material

All data are transparent and will be available on request by the corresponding author.

Code availability

Data analysis was performed using SPSS software, version 25. All data are anonymous.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Dordrecht, The Netherlands

    Lesley Larissa Koet, Annelot Kraima, Ilona Derksen, Bas Lamme, Eric Jacobus Theodorus Belt, Joost van Rosmalen, Robert Matthijs Smeenk & Joost Alexander Boreas van der Hoeven

Authors
  1. Lesley Larissa Koet
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  2. Annelot Kraima
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  3. Ilona Derksen
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  4. Bas Lamme
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  5. Eric Jacobus Theodorus Belt
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  6. Joost van Rosmalen
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  7. Robert Matthijs Smeenk
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  8. Joost Alexander Boreas van der Hoeven
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were primarily performed by Lesley Larissa Koet and Joost Alexander Boreas van der Hoeven. The analysis of the data was performed by Lesley Larissa Koet, Joost Alexander Boreas van der Hoeven, Annelot Kraima, and Joost van Rosmalen (statistical analysis). The first draft of the manuscript was written by Lesley Larissa Koet and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Joost Alexander Boreas van der Hoeven.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

All procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the WOAC, formerly known as the local Medical Ethics Committee of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, Dordrecht, The Netherlands (AG/2013.08/2013.16).

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in this study.

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Patients signed informed consent regarding publishing their data.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Koet, L.L., Kraima, A., Derksen, I. et al. Effectiveness of preoperative group education for patients with colorectal cancer: managing expectations. Support Care Cancer 29, 5263–5271 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-021-06072-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-021-06072-5

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