“It made me feel part of the team, having my homework to do” – Women and specialist nurse experiences of remote follow up after ovarian cancer treatment: a qualitative interview study.

Abstract

Purpose. This study aimed to explore ovarian cancer patients’ and specialist nurses’ experiences of participating in a feasibility study of an electronic patient reported outcome (ePRO) follow-up pathway. Women in the feasibility study completed an ePRO questionnaire, had a blood test and telephone consultation with their specialist nurse, instead of face-to-face hospital visits.Methods. All women and the nurses involved were invited to take part in nested semi-structured interviews exploring all aspects of the pathway. Interviews were recorded and transcripts analysed using framework analysis.Results. Twenty interviews were conducted (16 out of 24 feasibility participants, and all 4 nurses involved). Four themes were identified: 1) readiness and motivators (e.g. feeling well), 2) practicalities and logistics (e.g. value of core features), 3) personal impact (e.g. connection and safety) and 4) future role. An underlying theme highlighted how women strived to seek reassurance and gain confidence. Most women and nurses were positive about the ePRO pathway and would happily continue using it. Conclusion. This work provides invaluable insight into the experiences of women on remote ePRO follow-up post-treatment. Important logistic and implementation issues were identified, which will inform future large-scale work to introduce and evaluate remote ePRO methods during cancer follow-up. This work highlights the key factors influencing women’s readiness and acceptability of an ePRO pathway, and how services should be carefully designed to ensure patients feel reassured and confident post-treatment. Further, it highlights that flexibility and patient preference should be considered in remote service delivery.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02847715 (first registered 19/05/2016)