ArticleBMJ open2023
Treatment burden in survivors of prostate and colorectal cancers: a qualitative interview study.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04163068 (The Improving Cancer Aftercare Study. Using Patient and Caregiver Experiences to Assess Treatment Burden and Inform Health Service Design for People After Prostate and Colorectal Cancer. A Qualitative Semi-structured Interview Study.), which is not on this map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Improving Cancer Aftercare Study. Using Patient and Caregiver Experiences to Assess Treatment Burden and Inform Health Service Design for People After Prostate and Colorectal Cancer. A Qualitative Semi-structured Interview Study.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Psychosocial experiences of prostate cancer survivors after treatment: a systematic review of qualitative studies.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Enhanced Telehealth in Prostate Cancer.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Psychometric properties of the Persian version of the chemotherapy side effects fear scale among Iranian patients with cancer.PloS one · 2026Article
- A Text Message Intervention to Minimize the Time Burden of Cancer Care.NEJM catalyst innovations in care delivery · 2025Article
- Co-Design of the Structured Personalised Assessment for Reviews After Cancer (SPARC) Intervention.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- Managing the work of living with heart failure: a qualitative study using the cumulative complexity model from Southeastern Minnesota.BMJ open · 2024Article
- The Experiences and Perspectives of Persons with Prostate Cancer and Their Partners: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis Using Meta-Ethnography.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Transforming patient-centered cancer care using telehealth: the MATCHES Center.Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs · 2024Article
- Reporting time toxicity in prospective cancer clinical trials: A scoping review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- Rural and Urban patients' Requirements and Experiences of Out-of-hours medical care after cancer (RUREO): a questionnaire study.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Telemedicine and Cancer Care: Barriers and Strategies to Optimize Delivery.Cancer journal (Sudbury, Mass.)Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTreatment burden is the workload of healthcare and the impact this has on the individual. Treatment burden is associated with poorer patient outcomes in several chronic diseases. Illness burden has been extensively studied in cancer, but little is known about treatment burden, particularly in those who have completed primary treatment for cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate treatment burden in survivors of prostate and colorectal cancers and their caregivers.
designSemistructured interview study. Interviews were analysed using Framework and thematic analysis.
settingParticipants were recruited via general practices in Northeast Scotland.
participantsEligible participants were individuals who had been diagnosed with colorectal or prostate cancer without distant metastases within the previous 5 years and their caregivers. Thirty-five patients and six caregivers participated: 22 patients had prostate and 13 had colorectal cancers (six male, seven female).
resultsThe term 'burden' did not resonate with most survivors, who expressed gratitude that time invested in cancer care could translate into improved survival. Cancer management was time consuming, but workload reduced over time. Cancer was usually considered as a discrete episode. Individual, disease and health system factors protected against or increased treatment burden. Some factors, such as health service configuration, were potentially modifiable. Multimorbidity contributed most to treatment burden and influenced treatment decisions and engagement with follow-up. The presence of a caregiver protected against treatment burden, but caregivers also experienced burden.
conclusionsIntensive cancer treatment and follow-up regimens do not necessarily lead to perceived burden. A cancer diagnosis serves as a strong motivator to engage in health management, but a careful balance exists between positive perceptions and burden. Treatment burden could lead to poorer cancer outcomes by influencing engagement with and decisions about care. Clinicians should ask about treatment burden and its impact, particularly in those with multimorbidity. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04163068.
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