Older cancer patients' perceptions of care guality - an international study

Background: Cancer is considered as chronic condition, especially in the older people. Prevalence of cancer is especially high in the Nordic countries and Mediterranean countries. People with cancer are a common patient group in the healthcare system. Introduction: User perspective, such as patient assessments of care and care quality are central in developing healthcare services. These assessments have a high value in time when there are reforms in social and healthcare services. One core principle in these reforms is patient-centeredness. Earlier studies have shown that older patients differ from other age-based patient groups in their assessments of care quality elements. They were reported to be more positive in their evaluations. Aim: The aim of this study was to analyse cancer patients’ perceptions of patient-centered quality and individuality in care and trust in nurses, and to compare these perceptions between patients in the working age and older people. The research questions were: To what extent cancer patients perceive their care is patient-centered quality care, individualised and do they trust in nurses? Are there differences between older cancer patients and those in working age in their perceptions of person-centered quality of care, individuality in care and trust in nurses? Materials and methods: The study employed a cross-sectional comparative survey design. Data were collected using questionnaires among hospitalised cancer patients (N = 876, n = 599, 68%) in four countries: Greece, Cyprus, Sweden and Finland. The following instruments were used: The Oncology Patients perceptions of the Quality of Nursing Care Scale (OPPQNCS), the Individualised care Scale (ICS-patient) and Trust in Nurses. The data were divided into two sub-samples based on age (cut point 65 years): Older patients (n = 209) and patients in the working age (n = 387). Data were analysed statistically using cross-tabulation and chi-square statistics, or paired samples t-test. Result