Long-term improvement of quality of life in patients with breast cancer: supporting patient-physician communication by an electronic tool for inpatient and outpatient care.

Purpose: The effectiveness of a pathway with quality of life (QoL) diagnosis and therapy has been already demonstrated in an earlier randomized trial (RCT) in patients with breast cancer. We refined the pathway by developing and evaluating an electronic tool for QoL assessment in routine inpatient and outpatient care.

Methods: In a single-arm study, patients with breast cancer with surgical treatment in two German hospitals were enrolled.

Diagnosing deficits in quality of life and providing tailored therapeutic options: Results of a randomised trial in 220 patients with colorectal cancer.

Background: The implementation of quality of life (QoL) concepts in routine care, is still an open matter. We followed the Medical Research Council framework for complex interventions to implement a model of QoL diagnosis and therapeutic options, and investigated its effectiveness in patients with colorectal cancer.

Methods: This randomised, single-blind, multicentre, clinical trial enrolled patients diagnosed with primary colorectal cancer aged 18 years or older who were surgically treated in one of four recruiting hospitals in Germany.

[Interventions to improve quality of life in oncological patients].

The assessment of quality of life is a central aspect in the current debate in support groups, certified cancer centres, benefit assessment, and also in palliative care. Accordingly, quality of life has become an essential part of clinical trials for more than two decades. But most of the time results are presented in a descriptive manner without any concrete therapeutic consequences for the improvement of quality of life.

Breast cancer survivors` recollection of their quality of life: Identifying determinants of recall bias in a longitudinal population-based trial.

Background: The recollections of survivors of breast cancer are an important source of information about the disease for their family, friends, and newly diagnosed patients. So far, little is known about these memories. This study investigated how accurately survivors of breast cancer remember their past quality of life (QoL) during the disease and if this memory is modified by women`s present QoL and negative affect.

Direct improvement of quality of life in colorectal cancer patients using a tailored pathway with quality of life diagnosis and therapy (DIQOL): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Medical treatment in patient-centred care in oncology is broadly managed and regulated in terms of guideline development, cancer centres, and quality assurance by cancer registries. In contrast to this quality management cycle (PDCA), there are no equal standards for patient-reported outcomes like quality of life (QoL). Therefore, the Tumour Centre Regensburg e.

Breast cancer survivors' recollection of their illness and therapy seven years after enrolment into a randomised controlled clinical trial.

Background: Little is known about the subjective experience of breast cancer survivors after primary treatment. However, these experiences are important because they shape their communication about their illness in everyday life, usage and acceptance of healthcare, and expectations of new generations of patients. The present study investigated this topic by combining qualitative and quantitative methods.

Quality of life diagnosis and therapy as complex intervention for improvement of health in breast cancer patients: delineating the conceptual, methodological, and logistic requirements (modeling).

Background And Aims: A system for quality of life (QoL) diagnosis and therapy in breast cancer patients was developed according to the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework of complex interventions. Along MRC's five phases in the continuum of evidence, the present paper deals with phase I: modeling (i.e.

[Diagnosis and therapy of illness-related quality of life in breast cancer patients. Protocol of a randomized clinical trial at the Regensburg Tumour Centre].

Background: The project conducted at the Tumour Centre in Regensburg aims to integrate quality of life (QL) diagnostics with the therapy of breast cancer patients and to evaluate the efficacy of QL diagnostics in the context of a randomized clinical trial.

Methods: The Regensburg Tumour Centre provides the infrastructure of the present project (telemedicine, project groups, quality circle). The treatment of breast cancer patients is based on the recent national breast cancer therapy guideline, including assorted QL-enhancing therapy options such as pain therapy, physiotherapy and lymphatic drainage, psychotherapy, social counselling and rehabilitation, nutrition and sports.