Table 3.
The ten most and least important quality aspects according to cancer patients (importance questionnaire)
| Rank | Do you find it important that: | % very important* | Average importance score # (95% CI) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Most important questions | |||
| 1 |
your family doctor refers you to hospital as quickly as you would like |
75 |
3.72 (3.67-3.78) |
| 2 |
your treatment is started as soon after the diagnosis as you would like |
74 |
3.72 (3.67-3.78) |
| 3 |
there are regular checks to find new tumours, if your type of cancer is heritable |
68 |
3.63 (3.56-3.70) |
| 4 |
your doctor consults other doctors or refers you if additional expertise is required |
68 |
3.65 (3.59-3.71) |
| 5 |
the time between first examination and results was short |
66 |
3.62 (3.55-3.68) |
| 6 |
the time between referral by the family doctor and the first examination was less than 6 days |
65 |
3.59 (3.52-3.66) |
| 7 |
you have confidence in the doctors and nurses in the hospital |
65 |
3.63 (3.57-3.68) |
| 8 |
doctors and nurses in the hospital give you the best possible care |
61 |
3.60 (3.54-3.66) |
| 9 |
you regularly receive information about the effect of the treatment, during the treatment period |
57 |
3.54 (3.48-3.60) |
| 10 |
you receive sufficient information about the (dis-) advantages of different treatments, so you can make a proper choice |
56 |
3.50 (3.43-3.57) |
|
Least important questions | |||
| 1 |
careproviders inform you about patient organisations |
10 |
2.53 (2.44-2.63) |
| 2 |
you can talk to doctors and/or nurses about alternative treatments and medicines, if you wish |
15 |
2.66 (2.56-2.76) |
| 3 |
you are informed if the waiting time is longer than expected |
17 |
2.80 (2.71-2.89) |
| 4 |
nurses are polite to you |
18 |
2.98 (2.91-3.06) |
| 5 |
nurses show personal interest in you |
18 |
2.89 (2.80-2.97) |
| 6 |
you are offered help with questions regarding resuming you regular activities, during aftercare |
19 |
2.76 (2.65-2.86) |
| 7 |
you receive information from the hospital about possibilities for psychosocial guidance, during aftercare |
19 |
2.86 (2.77-2.95) |
| 8 |
it is regularly checked if you need help dealing with the emotions brought about by the disease and treatment |
19 |
2.81 (2.72-2.91) |
| 9 |
you are called at home by a care provider from the hospital within a week after completion of the treatment, to discuss how you are doing |
19 |
2.81 (2.71-2.90) |
| 10 | the waiting time for outpatient appointments in the hospital is less than 15 minutes | 20 | 2.78 (2.68-2.87) |
Questions were translated from Dutch for this article. * The percentage of people who scored the item as being very important. # Importance scores range from 1 (not important) to 4 (very important).