Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Although bladder cancer is much more common in men than in women, female patients with bladder cancer present with more locally advanced tumors and have worse disease-specific outcomes than male patients, even after controlling for biological differences. There is a paucity of research regarding the optimal approach to caring for female patients with bladder cancer in ways that maximize patient satisfaction, preferences, and values.

OBJECTIVE:

We sought to explore patient-defined priorities and areas in need of improvement for female patients with bladder cancer from the patient perspective.

METHODS:

We conducted focus group sessions and semi-structured interviews of women treated for bladder cancer to identify patient priorities and concerns until reaching topic saturation. Transcripts were analyzed thematically.

RESULTS:

Eight patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer and six patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer participated in two focus groups and seven interviews total. Three themes emerged as significantly affecting the care experience: physical impacts, mental health and emotional wellbeing, and the patient-provider interaction. Each theme included patient-defined specific recommendations on approaches to optimizing the care experience for women with bladder cancer.

CONCLUSIONS:

Although most participants were satisfied with the quality of care they received, they identified several opportunities for improvement. These concerns centered around enhancing support for patients’ physical and mental needs and strengthening the patient-provider interaction. Efforts to address these needs and reduce gender disparate outcomes via quality improvement initiatives are ongoing.

中文翻译：

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评估女性膀胱癌患者的优先级

摘要

背景：

尽管膀胱癌在男性中比女性更为普遍，但即使在控制生物学差异后，女性膀胱癌患者也呈现出局部晚期肿瘤，并且与男性患者相比，疾病特异性结局也较男性患者差。很少有关于以最大化患者满意度，喜好和价值观的方式护理女性膀胱癌患者的最佳方法的研究。

目的：

我们试图从患者的角度探讨女性患者确定的优先事项和需要改善的女性膀胱癌领域。

方法：

我们对接受过膀胱癌治疗的妇女进行了焦点小组会议和半结构式访谈，以确定患者的优先事项和关注点，直到达到主题饱和为止。成绩单进行了专题分析。

结果：

八位肌肉浸润性膀胱癌患者和六位非肌肉浸润性膀胱癌患者参加了两个焦点小组和总共七个访谈。出现了三个主题，这些主题对护理体验产生了重大影响：身体影响，心理健康和情绪健康以及患者与提供者之间的互动。每个主题都包括患者定义的有关如何优化膀胱癌女性护理体验的方法的具体建议。

结论：

尽管大多数参与者对所获得的护理质量感到满意，但他们发现了一些改善的机会。这些关注点集中在增强对患者身体和精神需求的支持以及加强患者与提供者之间的互动上。通过质量改进措施，正在努力满足这些需求并减少性别差异的结果。