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Background:To describe (1) anticipated health-related quality of life during different strategies for febrile neutropaenia (FN) management and (2) attributes of those preferring inpatient management.Methods:Respondents were parents of children 0–18 years and children 12–18 years receiving cancer treatment. Anticipated health-related quality of life was elicited for four different FN management strategies: entire inpatient, early discharge, outpatient oral and outpatient intravenous (i.v.) therapy. Tools used to measure health-related quality of life were visual analogue scale (VAS), willingness to pay and time trade off.Results:A total of 155 parents and 43 children participated. For parents, median VAS scores were highest for early discharge (5.9, interquartile range 4.4–7.2) and outpatient i.v. (5.9, interquartile range 4.4–7.3). For children, median scores were highest for early discharge (6.1, interquartile range 4.6–7.2). In contrast, the most commonly preferred strategy for parents and children was inpatient in 55.0% and 37.2%, respectively. Higher current child health-related quality of life was associated with a stronger preference for outpatient management.Conclusion:Early discharge and outpatient i.v. management are associated with higher anticipated health-related quality of life, although the most commonly preferred strategy was inpatient care. This data may help with determining more cost-effective strategies for paediatric FN.

Our study indicates that the majority of adult cancer patients would prefer an outpatient strategy for FN. However, patients' preferences vary substantially at the individual level. Implementation of outpatient strategies into routine clinical practice should consider this variability.