Distribution and determinants of patient satisfaction in oncology with a focus on health-related quality of life
e17578 Background: Cancer patients usually undergo extensive and debilitating treatments, which makes patient satisfaction with care in oncology an important health care assessment measure. We conducted a study to examine patients’ experiences with the care they receive and to investigate the clinical, demographic and quality of life (QoL) factors that can predict satisfaction in a large heterogeneous sample of cancer patients. Methods: A case series of 538 cancer patients treated at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) at Midwestern and Southwestern Regional Medical Centers between August 2006-December 2007. A patient satisfaction questionnaire developed in-house by CTCA was used. The questionnaire covered the following dimensions of patient satisfaction: hospital operations and services, physicians and staff, and patient endorsements for themselves and others. QoL was assessed using EORTC QLQ-C30. The available clinical, demographic and QoL factors were evaluated for predictive significance using univariate (t-test or chi-square test) and multivariate logistic regression. Results: The response rate for this study was 24.4%. The mean age of our patient population was 54.1 years (SD = 10.5, range 17–86), with a slight preponderance of females (57.2 %). Breast cancer (n = 124, 23.0 %) and lung cancer (n = 101, 18.8%) were the most frequent cancer types. 481 (89.4%) patients were “very satisfied” with their overall experience with CTCA. Age and several QoL function and symptom scales were predictive of satisfaction upon univariate analysis. However, in the multivariate modeling, only those with a score above the median on the fatigue measure (i.e., worse fatigue) had reduced odds of 0.28 of being “very satisfied” with CTCA (p = 0.03). Conclusions: We found that fatigue was an independent significant predictor of patient satisfaction. This finding argues for special attention and programs for cancer patients who report higher levels of fatigue. Such efforts will help lessen the effect of fatigue on their daily functioning, and may increase their satisfaction with treatment. No significant financial relationships to disclose.