Long-Term Follow-up Consultation After Childhood Cancer in the Rhône-Alpes Region of France: Feedback From Adult Survivors and Their General Practitioners

Abstract

Purpose: We evaluated the satisfaction of adult survivors of childhood cancers and their general practitioners (GP) after a long-term consultation.

Methods: The first Long-term Follow-up Study in Oncology (SALTO1) is a prospective cohort study of survivors of childhood cancers (except leukemia) diagnosed between 1987 and 1992 in the Rhône-Alpes and Auvergne regions of France. Of the 481 patients eligible for the study, 150 participated in a long-term consultation with a pediatric oncologist and an internist, after which survivors and their GPs received long-term plans and recommendations based on consultation findings. A year after the consultation, survivors and their GPs assessed their satisfaction with the process.

Results: Of the 150 survivor participants in the long-term follow-up, 120 (80%) completed the satisfaction form, with 107 (89%) reporting satisfaction. Forty-eight (32%) expressed strengthening their follow-up as a consequence of the consultation. Of the 79 survivors sent recommendations, 76 (96%) reported reading them, most (n = 68; 86%) found them useful, and 56 (71%) followed recommendations. Of the 107 GPs of the survivors, 82 (77%) conceded having been poorly informed about long-term complications for their patients after chemotherapy, and 93 (88%) appreciated having a hospital contact available for these patients.

Conclusion: The long-term consultations ultimately enhanced medical follow-up of survivor participants, improving knowledge of both patients and family physicians regarding the patients' early disease, its treatments, and possible concerns, and offering consultative resources of medical specialists. The levels of participation of survivors and their physicians and reported satisfaction encourage the adoption of such consultations throughout France.

Keywords: adult survivors of childhood cancer; general practitioner; internal medicine; long-term follow-up; transition.