Cancer survivorship care after curative treatment: Chinese oncology practitioners’ practices

Purpose: To establish oncology practitioners’ perceptions of responsibility, confidence levels, and frequency of survivorship care practice in relation to the post-treatment phase of survivorship care in Mainland China; to identify factors associated with oncology practitioners’ perceptions of responsibility, confidence levels, and frequency of survivorship care practice; and to examine factors that impede the provision of quality survivorship care. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of Chinese oncology practitioners was conducted using a test battery consisting of a self-developed information sheet, a 29-item survivorship care scale (29-SCS), and a 16-item impeding factors scale. Results: There were 331 participants. Mean values of the four subscales (8.87, 61.82, 18.62, and 40.49) on perceptions of responsibility were relatively higher than those of the mean values of confidence levels and frequency of survivorship care practice. Participant characteristics, including professional discipline, highest educational qualification achieved, work status, work role, and work setting, were identified as factors associated with oncology practitioners’ responsibility perceptions, confidence levels, and survivorship care practice frequency. The top three barriers to quality survivorship care perceived by participants were lack of time, an appropriate physical location, and evidence-based practice guidelines to inform survivorship care. Conclusions: Findings of relatively high levels of perception of responsibility and low levels of confidence in survivorship care suggest that survivorship care is needed, with the aim of implementing oncology practitioners’ responsibility and improving their confidence in providing survivorship care in cancer practice. Future multiple levels of cooperation for overcoming barriers and implementing quality survivorship care are highly recommended.