A survey in Puglia: The attitudes and opinions of specialists, general physicians and patients on follow-up practice

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Abstract
Background : The follow-up for breast cancer patients is a well established routine practice requiring the organization and coordination of many professional figures and a large expenditure of national health funds. To study the problems in practical clinical mangement of such a complicated health program in a typical population, a questionnaire survey of the opinions and attitudes of specialists, general practitioners and patients directly involved in clinical follow-up was performed in the Puglia region of Southern Italy. Materials and methods : A representative sample of specialists (n - 285), general practitioners (n - 263) and patients (n - 284) involved in the management of follow-up practice for breast cancer in Puglia received different questionaires to ascertain their behaviour, attitutes, opinions, perception of the disease and the organi-zational requirements for treatment. A total of 57.4% of questionnaires were returned. Results and discussion : The most important results were: (a) about one-third of cases complained of difficulties in follow-up management due to the lack of cooperation and integration of follow-up procedures among specialists; (b) the general practitioners preferred to have a more active role in follow-up; (c) the patients reported that being managed by more than one physician or living far from follow-up facilities resulted in an inferior quality of life.