Sickness absence among cancer patients in the pre-diagnostic and the post-diagnostic phases of five common forms of cancer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to observe sickness absence before and after the cancer diagnosis among cancer patients with five common forms of cancer.

Methods: Using cohort data, we observed sick leave in the pre- and post-diagnostic phase among patients with colon, rectal, breast, prostate, or lung cancer (n = 2,738). We also identified reference subjects without cancer (total n = 12,246) who were individually matched for age and gender for each specific cancer cohort in order to compare sickness absence between patients with a specific form of cancer and the background population without cancer.

Experiences of living with advanced colorectal cancer from two perspectives - inside and outside.

Purpose: To investigate how life situation by persons with advanced colorectal cancer and their partners is affected by living with the disease and its treatment.

Method: Separate, individual interviews were made with persons with advanced colorectal cancer (n = 12) and their partners (n = 9) about how their daily lives were affected by the disease and its treatment. The verbatim transcripts were analysed using content analysis.

Sick leave of spouses to cancer patients before and after diagnosis.

Background: The impact of cancer on spouses of cancer patients may be considerable in many aspects. Our objective was to evaluate sick leave in spouses of cancer patients before and after the diagnosis.

Material And Methods: Using Swedish population-based registries, we studied sick leave of spouses to patients with newly diagnosed colon, rectal, lung, prostate, or breast cancer.

Influence on the health of the partner affected by tumor disease in the wife or husband based on a population-based register study of cancer in Sweden.

Purpose: To examine health care use and health care costs among partners of persons with cancer.

Patients And Methods: Partners of patients with colon, rectal, lung, breast, and prostate cancer (N = 11,076) were identified via linked data from the Tumor Registry of Southern Sweden and Census Registry of Sweden. Health care use, total costs of health care, and diagnosis of the partner were studied before and after diagnosis of the cancer patient.

The experiences of older people living with cancer.

Nursing care for older people with cancer requires an understanding of their history and current needs from both an individual and generalized view. The aim of this study was to investigate the experience of older people living with cancer and the way it affects their daily life. During the study, 41 individuals 75 years of age and older (mean age, 83 years) who had a cancer diagnosed within the past 5 years were interviewed in their homes.

Assessment of quality of life during chemotherapy.

Increasingly more aggressive chemotherapy together with expected small differences between treatments with respect to objective endpoints has heightened awareness about the importance of addressing how patients experience and value the impact that treatment has had on their overall life situation. Assessment of a patient's quality of life (QoL) is now conceptually viewed as an important complement to traditional objective evaluation measures. It was therefore considered important to review the basis for the assessment of this endpoint when The Swedish Council of Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU) performed a systematic overview of chemotherapy effects in several tumour types.

The Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU) systematic overview of chemotherapy effects in some major tumour types--summary and conclusions.

This report by The Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU) reviews, classifies, and grades the scientific literature on cancer chemotherapy in some major tumour types, describes the practice of chemotherapy in Sweden, compares practice with scientific knowledge, and analyses the costs and cost-effectiveness of chemotherapy. The report is intended primarily for decision-makers at various levels, both practitioners and administrators. It is also of interest for the medical profession.