Secondary patient outcomes
| Before | After | Effect estimate (95% CI)* | ||
| Time point 1: discharge or ward transfer | ||||
| HCAHPS35 | ||||
| Nursing services† | n, mean (SD) | 95, 0.63 (0.42) | 122, 0.66 (0.37) | 0.07 (−0.08 to 0.23) |
| Doctor communication | n, mean (SD) | 302, 0.77 (0.38) | 367, 0.77 (0.38) | 0.09 (0.00 to 0.19) |
| Physical environment | n, mean (SD) | 276, 0.49 (0.31) | 347, 0.49 (0.31) | 0.06 (−0.03 to 0.16) |
| Pain control*† | n, mean (SD) | 232, 0.69 (0.40) | 244, 0.69 (0.40) | 0.13 (0.00 to 0.26) |
| Communication about medicines† | n, mean (SD) | 191, 0.54 (0.40) | 215, 0.54 (0.40) | 0.07 (−0.06 to 0.21) |
| Discharge information | n, mean (SD) | 233, 0.65 (0.48) | 249, 0.65 (0.48) | 0.09 (−0.06 to 0.24) |
| Fatigue and nausea† | n, mean (SD) | 91, 0.79 (0.35) | 88, 0.79 (0.35) | −0.12 (−0.31 to 0.06) |
| Overall health | n, mean (SD) | 280, 0.45 (0.26) | 345, 0.45 (0.26) | −0.02 (−0.09 to 0.05) |
| PANAS48 | ||||
| Positive Affect Scale | n, mean (SD) | 244, 26.7 (8.2) | 263, 26.7 (8.2) | −0.18 (−2.86 to 2.51) |
| Negative Affect Scale | n, mean (SD) | 251, 16.9 (6.6) | 279, 16.9 (6.6) | −2.01 (−3.84 to −0.18) |
| HADS43 | ||||
| Anxiety | n, mean (SD) | 258, 5.8 (4.2) | 314, 5.8 (4.2) | −0.63 (−1.77 to 0.51) |
| Depression | n, mean (SD) | 259, 5.0 (3.9) | 321, 5.0 (3.9) | −0.49 (−1.54 to 0.55) |
| EORTC42 | ||||
| Pain | n, mean (SD) | 281, 46.6 (33.1) | 323, 46.6 (33.1) | −7.6 (−17.5 to 2.3) |
| Fatigue | n, mean (SD) | 282, 59.2 (26.4) | 324, 59.2 (26.4) | −5.6 (−13.4 to 2.2) |
| Nausea/vomiting | n, mean (SD) | 279, 15.9 (24.1) | 321, 15.9 (24.1) | −1.4 (−6.0 to 8.7) |
| Ward rating | ||||
| Confidence in future treatment | n, mean (SD) | 292, 8.49 (1.9) | 357, 8.9 (1.6) | 0.32 (−0.12 to 0.80) |
| Overall ward rating | n, mean (SD) | 293, 8.5 (1.6) | 359, 8.9 (1.5) | 0.46 (0.01 to 0.92) |
| HCAHPS recommendation to family/friends35 | ||||
| Definitely yes | n/N (%) | 181/294 (61.6) | 255/360 (70.8) | 0.71 (0.40 to 1.26) |
| Probably yes | n/N (%) | 91/294 (31.0) | 87/360 (24.2) | |
| Probably no | n/N (%) | 16/294 (5.4) | 10/360 (2.8) | |
| Defiantly no | n/N (%) | 6/294 (2.0) | 8/360 (2.2) | |
| Time point 2: 4–6 weeks after discharge/ward transfer | ||||
| HCAHPS35 | ||||
| Overall health | n, mean (SD) | 130, 0.43 (0.28) | 149, 0.40 (0.24) | −0.05 (−0.14 to 0.05) |
| EORTC42 | ||||
| Pain | n, mean (SD) | 128, 34.9 (30.0) | 150, 37.1 (34.9) | −0.5 (−12.6 to 11.7) |
| Fatigue | n, mean (SD) | 129, 45.6 (29.5) | 147, 50.3 (29.7) | 5.9 (−5.4 to 17.3) |
| Nausea/vomiting | n, mean (SD) | 127, 8.3 (16.5) | 149, 9.7 (20.0) | −0.7 (−8.7 to 7.2) |
| HCAHPS recommendation to family/friends35 | ||||
| Definitely yes | n/N (%) | 76/131 (58.0) | 96/150 (64.0) | 0.79 (0.31 to 2.09) |
| Probably yes | n/N (%) | 40/131 (30.5) | 46/150 (30.5) | |
| Probably no | n/N (%) | 12/131 (9.2) | 6/150 (9.2) | |
| Definitely no | n/N (%) | 3/131 (2.3) | 2/150 (2.3) | |
| Patient Enablement Instrument score44 | n, mean (SD) | 99, 4.05 (3.86) | 107, 4.31 (3.75) | 0.03 (−1.63 to 1.68) |
| Ward rating | ||||
| Overall ward rating | n, mean (SD) | 132, 8.1 (1.6) | 153, 8.6 (1.5) | 0.68 (0.49 to 1.31) |
| Confidence in future treatment | n, mean (SD) | 131, 8.4 (1.9) | 151, 8.9 (1.7) | 0.72 (−0.02 to 1.47) |
Results in bold indicate statistically significant improvements.
*Effect estimate is the adjusted mean difference, except for recommendation to family/friends where it is an odds ratio.
†There were screening questions for nursing services, pain control, communication about medicines and fatigue/nausea, so these scrores were only calculated for applicable patients
EORTC, European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HCAHPS, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems; PANAS, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule.