Breast cancer follow-up: From the perspective of health professionals and patients

Abstract

Increased breast cancer incidence and better survival have raised the number of patients requiring follow-up care. Despite guidelines, there is controversy about appropriate breast cancer follow-up. Therefore, semi-structured interviews were conducted in two hospitals with 23 patients and 18 health professionals (HPs) in order to explore opinions and preferences about the purpose, the duration and frequency of breast cancer follow-up and which examinations should be done, by whom. The transcripts were inductively analysed and coded into pre-identified themes. Patients were followed more intensively than guidelines recommend. HPs mentioned three major reasons; patient preferences, each discip..