Impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on cancer patients may be high in terms of anxiety, fear and psychological distress; however, this topic remains under-addressed. We aim to describe cancer patient experiences related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland. Information gained through in-depths interviews will be triangulated with the level of distress and resilience.
Purposive sampling will be used to recruit four patient subgroups diagnosed with melanoma, breast, lung, or colon cancer (i) under adjuvant treatment; (ii) under anti-cancer treatment with palliative intent; (iii) being consulted at institutes for complementary and integrative medicine (ICIM); (iv) being consulted by clinical nurse specialists (CNS). Interview guides were developed based on qualitative analysis of public online cancer patients’ forums from four different countries. We selected main posts related to COVID-19. Semantic and inductive thematic analysis approaches were used to identify meaningful patterns and themes. The level of distress and resilience will be measured by the NCCN Distress Thermometer and the 2-item Connor-Davidson-Resilience Scale. We aim to include 120 patients (10 participants per subgroup in each language region). Recruitment will start in September 2020.
The design of the study as well as preliminary data regarding themes and subthemes identified in the patient’s forum analysis will be presented.
To the best of our knowledge, no patient experience study with a qualitative design is conducted or planned with cancer patients during COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. The study will serve to identify concerns, unmet information and clinical needs and potential positive experiences of patients with cancer in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Newly developed patient reported measures should be based on qualitative data. The identification of topics considered important to patients will thus support the development of patient reported experience measures for the current or future epidemics/pandemics.
The authors.
Has not received any funding.
S. Colomer-Lahiguera: Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Vifor pharma. M. Eicher: Travel/Accommodation/Expenses: Vifor pharma; Honoraria (institution): Vifor pharma; Honoraria (institution), Research grant/Funding (institution): BMS; Honoraria (institution), Research grant/Funding (institution): Roche; Research grant/Funding (institution): Kaiku Health. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.