Abstract
Purpose
With an increase in the number of young and middle-aged colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with stoma, understanding their perception about return to work (RTW) in the early postoperative period can guide medical professionals to provide appropriate rehabilitation strategies, which can eventually improve patients’ readiness for return to work (RRTW) and enable them to achieve final rehabilitation. The present study aimed to investigate the RTW-related perceptions and considerations of young and middle-aged CRC patients with stoma after surgery.
Methods
From 2021 to 2022, we conducted a basic interpretive qualitative study involving semi-structured interviews with 17 CRC patients with stoma in two grade 3A hospitals in China. This study was based on the RRTW model. Data collection was continued until data saturation was reached, and all data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by Colaizzi’s phenomenological method.
Results
The following three key themes were identified: (1) self-efficacy; (2) decision balance; and (3) change process. Eight subthemes were formulated that were included within the respective main themes.
Conclusion
In light of the current low self-efficacy and unsatisfactory willingness of patients with stoma about RTW, we suggest that medical staff should implement cognitive intervention and supportive interventions to improve self-efficacy, actively enhance the motivation of patients for RTW, and simultaneously resolve the pertinent difficulties; this could help patients to accept the positive change process and enable their successful transition from a change process to RTW.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Funding
This work was supported by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Health Medical Research Fund (A2022280); the 2021 Guangdong Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Situation Project (20211266); the Education Science Planning Project of Guangzhou Education Bureau (202213957); the Innovation Project of Postgraduate Education and Scientific Research of School of Nursing, Guangzhou Medical University (Q22153033); and the Teaching Ability and Scientific Research Promotion Program, Guangzhou Medical University (2023-86).
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Qiao Wang, Xi Su, and Yulan Ren were involved in study concept and design. Yulan Ren, Ying Zhou, Yao Yang, Rui Xia, and Yuan Yang participated in material preparation. Yulan Ren, Qiao Wang, Lingling Zhang, Hui Li, and Di Tian performed data collection and analysis. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yulan Ren and Ying Zhou, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. The study design and procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of Guangzhou Medical University prior to conducting the research (approval number: 202201012).
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Ren, Y., Zhou, Y., Zhang, L. et al. Readiness for return-to-work model-based analysis of return-to-work perception of young and middle-aged colorectal cancer patients with stoma in the early postoperative period: a descriptive qualitative study. Support Care Cancer 31, 411 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-07828-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-07828-x