Functional recovery from cancer surgery: estimation of expectations.

Level of expected functional recovery from colostomy, laryngectomy and mastectomy was established by the Delphi technique. One hundred fifteen cancer rehabilitation experts responded to 2 rounds of questionnaires and provided their judgments regarding degrees and timing of recovery in 14 functional, physical and psychological areas. Feedback of first round judgments was provided in the second round and 85% agreement was set as the standard for consensus. The mastectomy patient is expected to have the quickest recovery with former level of functioning reached in most areas by 3 months postdischarge. The colostomy patient is expected to be functioning normally in most areas by 6 months postdischarge. The laryngectomy patient is expected to be functioning normally in most areas by 12 months postdischarge. Some functions were judged to have the same rate of recovery for all 3 patient types; for example, the experts agreed that for the 55-year-old patients described in the case abstracts, sexual activities would not reach the preoperative frequency until 12 months postdischarge.