Pilot study on individualized integrated rehabilitation of breast cancer patients 2019-2022

The purpose of the research is to improve the rehabilitation of cancer patients in Slovenia, which is currently not coordinated and does not cover all 15 areas in which cancer treatment affects patients. With our pilot study, we will prepare a clinical pathway and a network of providers of rehabilitation in the Ljubljana and Gorenjska regions for breast cancer patients, which will be the basis for coordinated individualized integrated rehabilitation throughout the country. The aim of the research is to find out which problems Slovenian patients have after oncologic treatment of breast cancer and how successfully we reduce them with the current rehabilitation. As part of the research, we will prepare a clinical pathway and a network of providers of coordinated individualized integrated rehabilitation and examine how effectively the problems of breast cancer patients will be reduced by a coordinated individualized integrated rehabilitation. Our hypothesis is that patients undergoing a coordinated individualized integrated rehabilitation will have significantly less problems, better quality of life, shorter absenteeism and less frequent disability retirement compared to the control group of patients undergoing the current rehabilitation. The study will comprise 600 breast cancer patients between the ages of 25 and 65 who will have their first treatment at the Institute of Oncology (OI) Ljubljana. Altogether 300 patients will be included in the control group from 1/1/2020 to 30/10/2020. The patients from this group will visit the coordinator for rehabilitation at diagnosis, 6 months after diagnosis and 12 months after diagnosis and each time complete the triage questionnaire and the standardized quality of life questionnaire. The oncologist will refer the patient to the rehab provider based on his findings. In the intervention group 300 patients will be included from 1/4/2020 to 1/4/2021. They will be residents of the Ljubljana or Kranj health regions. The patients in the intervention group will visit the coordinator at diagnosis, 6 months after diagnosis and 12 months after diagnosis and complete the triage questionnaire and the standardized quality of life questionnaire before being examined by the oncologist. The oncologist will refer the patient to the rehab provider for further treatment, according to the problem that will be identified by a questionnaire. The effectiveness of this rehabilitation treatment will be evaluated at the following controls with the coordinator and oncologist and compared with the effectiveness of the rehabilitation treatment in the control group.