A randomised controlled trial to improve general practitioners’ services in cancer rehabilitation: Effects on general practitioners’ proactivity and on patients’ participation in rehabilitation activities

Figures & data

Figure 1. Study flow.

Figure 2. General needs and problems among cancer patients.

Table I. Baseline patient characteristics of the respondents after 14 months of follow-up.

Demographic characteristics	Intervention n = 250	Control n = 256	Total n = 506
Sex
Male, n (%)	47 (18.8)	56 (21.9)	103 (20.4)
Female, n (%)	203 (81.2)	200 (78.1)	403 (79.6)
Age, years
Mean (CI)	62.2 (62–65)	62.8 (63–65)	62.5 (63–65)
Median	63	64	64
Range	31–91	21–90	21–91
Cancer type	n (%)	n (%)	n (%)
Breast cancer	137 (54.8)	145 (56.6)	282 (55.7)
Colorectal cancer	44 (17.6)	32 (12.5)	76 (15.0)
Malignant melanoma	27 (10.8)	34 (13.3)	61 (12.0)
Lung cancer	9 (3.6)	11 (4.3)	20 (4.0)
Prostate cancer	2 (0.8)	8 (3.1)	10 (2.0)
Other	31 (12.4)	26 (10.2)	57 (11.3)

Table II. Proactive contact to patients by general practitioner during 14-month follow-up, patient-reported (n = 324).

	Proactive contact n = 182 (56.2%)	No proactive contact n = 142 (43.8%)	OR^crude	OR^adj* (95% CI)	p-value
Control n = 156 n (%)	81 (51.9)	75 (48.1)	1	1	–
Intervention n = 168 n (%)	101 (60.1)	67 (39.9)	1.45	1.44 (0.88–2.36)	0.15

*Adjusted for sex and age.

Table III. Proactive contact to patients by general practitioner during 14-month follow-up, GP-reported (n = 752).

	Proactive contact n = 438 (58.2%)	No proactive contact n = 314 (41.8%)	OR^crude (95% CI)	p-value
Control n = 373 n (%)	206 (55.2)	167 (44.8)	1	–
Intervention n = 379 n (%)	232 (61.2)	147 (38.8)	1.28 (0.96–1.71)	0.10

Table IV. Patient participation in rehabilitation activities during 14-month follow-up after diagnosis (n = 483).

	One or more activities			One or more physical activities			One or more psychological activities			One or more work-related/financial activities
	n = 268 (55.5%)			n = 232 (48.0%)			n = 83 (17.2%)			n = 59 (12.2%)
	n (%)	OR^crude	OR^adj* (95% CI)	n (%)	OR^crude	OR^adj* (95% CI)	n (%)	OR^crude	OR^adj* (95% CI)	n (%)	OR^crude	OR^adj* (95% CI)
Control n = 245	134 (54.7)	1	1	115 (46.9)	1	1	47 (19.2)	1	1	29 (11.8)	1	1
Intervention n = 238	134 (56.3)	1.06	1.01 (0.69–1.47)	117 (49.2)	1.10	1.05 (0.68–1.62)	36 (15.1)	0.75	0.68 (0.41–1.12)	30 (12.6)	1.07	1.01 (0.57–1.79)

*Adjusted for sex and age.

Table V. Effect of proactive contact to patients by the general practitioner (reported by patients) on patient participation in rehabilitation activities during the 14-month follow-up period (n = 318).

	One or more activities			One or more physical activities			One or more psychological activities			One or more work-related/ financial activities			No participation in any of the activities mentioned
	n = 200 (62.9%)			n = 174 (54.7%)			n = 71 (22.3%)			n = 59 (18.6%)			n = 118 (37.1%)
	n (%)	OR^crude	OR^adj* (95% CI)	n (%)	OR^crude	OR^adj* (95% CI)	n (%)	OR^crude	OR^adj* (95% CI)	n (%)	OR^crude	OR^adj* (95% CI)	n (%)	OR^crude	OR^adj* (95% CI)
No proactive contact by GP n = 178	101 (56.7)	1	1	91 (51.1)	1	1	36 (20.2)	1	1	24 (13.5)	1	1	77 (43.3)	1	1
Proactive contact by GP n = 140	99 (70.7)	1.86	1.96 (1.16–3.33)**	83 (59.3)	1.41	1.44 (0.87–2.37)	35 (25.0)	1.34	1.34 (0.76–2.36)	27 (19.3)	1.53	1.53 (0.82–2.86)	41 (29.3)	0.54	1.51 (0.30–0.86)**

*Adjusted for sex and age.

**p = 0.012.