Summary
We developed and pilot tested a 12-item questionnaire, to approach the issue of patients’ perception on efficacy of oral chemotherapy. An additional question was on ‘trade-off’ between treatment efficacy and the ease of oral administration. The motivating underlying hypothesis was that oral drugs might be perceived by patients as less effective than when drugs were delivered by injection. The questionnaire was given to 59 patients with advanced breast cancer who received oral chemotherapy. Ninety-percent of patients considered clear and completed the questionnaire. Oral chemotherapy was positively viewed by most patients, perceiving it as advantageous (58%), able to help them feel less ill (77%) and to reduce the effort in coping with the disease (67%). The most important feeling elicited was the sense of freedom. Younger patients (<45 years) required bigger effort to face their illness and expected the most from oral chemotherapy. The questionnaire was shown to be robust, reliable and reproducible instrument in assessing patients’ prejudices towards oral anticancer treatments.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
M Colleoni A Rocca MT Sandri et al. (2002) ArticleTitleLow-dose oral methotrexate and cyclophosphamide in metastatic breast cancer: antitumor activity and correlation with vascular endothelial growth factor levels Ann Oncol 13 IssueID1 73–80 Occurrence Handle10.1093/annonc/mdf013
P Fumoleau R Largillier C Clippe et al. (2004) ArticleTitleMulticentre, phase II study evaluating capecitabine monotherapy in patients with anthracycline- and taxane-pretreated metastatic breast cancer Eur J Cancer 40 IssueID4 536–542 Occurrence Handle10.1016/j.ejca.2003.11.007 Occurrence Handle14962720
Y Ogawa IshiKawaT SH Chung et al. (2003) ArticleTitleOral UFT and cyclophosphamide combination chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer Anticancer Res 23 IssueID4 3453–3457 Occurrence Handle12926089
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Catania, C., Didier, F., Leon, M.E. et al. Perception that Oral Anticancer Treatments are Less Efficacious: Development of a Questionnaire to Assess the Possible Prejudices of Patients with Cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat 92, 265–272 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-005-3376-y
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-005-3376-y