Journal Article

Predictors for the utilization of social service counseling by prostate cancer patients

Zengerling, Friedemann, Taubert, Anne, Kunath, Frank, Gilfrich, Christian, Brock, Marko, Kaftan, Björn, Beyer, Burkhard, Enge, Michael, Gaber, Amr A., Oostdam, Simba-Joshua, Stoklossa, Cindy, Blana, Andreas, Wesselmann, Simone, Schrodi, Valentin, Distler, Florian, Knoll, Thomas, Feick, Günter, Breidenbach, Clara, Carl, Ernst-Günther, Peters, Inga, Sibert, Nora Tabea, Dieng, Sebastian, Ansmann, Lena, Pomery, Amanda, Hinkel, Andreas, Polat, Bülent, Kowalski, Christoph

2022

Overview

Purpose Social service counseling (SSC) is an important instrument to support cancer patients, for example, regarding legal support, or rehabilitation. Several countries have established on-site SSC in routine care. Previous analyses have shown that SSC utilization varies across cancer centers. This analysis investigates patient and center-level predictors that explain variations in SSC utilization between centers. Methods Logistic multilevel analysis was performed with data from 19,865 prostate cancer patients from 102 prostate cancer centers in Germany and Switzerland. Data was collected within an observational study between July 2016 and June 2020 using survey (online and paper) and tumor documentation. Results The intraclass correlation coefficient for the null model implies that 51% of variance in SSC utilization is attributable to the center a patient is treated in. Patients aged 80 years and older, with higher education, private insurance, without comorbidities, localized intermediate risk, and undergoing androgen deprivation therapy before study inclusion were less likely to utilize SSC. Undergoing primary radiotherapy, active surveillance, or watchful waiting as compared to prostatectomy was associated with a lower likelihood of SSC utilization. Significant negative predictors at the center level were university hospital, center’s location in Switzerland, and a short period of certification. Conclusion The results show that patient and center characteristics contribute to explaining the variance in SSC utilization in prostate cancer centers to a large extent. The findings may indicate different organizational processes in the countries included and barriers in the sectoral structure of the healthcare system. In-depth analyses of processes within cancer centers may provide further insights into the reasons for variance in SSC utilization.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Androgen Antagonists / Androgens / Cancer / Cancer patients / Care and treatment / Certification / Comorbidity / Counseling / Deprivation / Documentation / Health care / Health counseling / Health services / Health services utilization / Higher education / Humans / Insurance / Male / Medical research / Medical treatment / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Medicine, Experimental / Multilevel analysis / Nursing / Nursing Research / Observational studies / Oncology / Organizational structure / Original / Original Article / Pain Medicine / Patients / Prostate / Prostate cancer / Prostatectomy / Prostatic Neoplasms - therapy / Radiation therapy / Radiotherapy / Rehabilitation / Rehabilitation Medicine / Social service / Social services / Social services utilization / Social Work / Surveillance / Surveys / Tumors