Perceptions and practice patterns of cancer survivorship care among Japanese gynecologic oncologists: The JGOG questionnaire survey

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess gynecologic oncologists (GOs)’ perceptions and attitudes toward cancer survivorship to help improve survivor care. METHODS: We conducted a web-based questionnaire survey about survivorship issues for the GOs belonging to the Japan Gynecologic Oncology Group. We analyzed the proactiveness of the participants toward addressing 25 survivor issues. In addition, the practice patterns and barriers to care for survivors’ long-term health issues, such as second primary cancer (SPC) and lifestyle-related diseases (LSRD), and return-to-work (RTW) support were assessed. RESULTS: We received 313 responses. The respondents had a mean of 22 years of physician experience. The ratio of men to women was approximately 7:3, and 84.7% worked at facilities for multidisciplinary cancer treatment. The respondents’ proactiveness for addressing psychosocial problems was significantly lower than physical and gynecological issues (p<0.01 by χ(2) test). However, most GOs tried to contribute to such issues according to patients’ demands. Women GOs were more proactively involved in some survivorship issues than the men (p<0.05 by logistic regression analysis). The rates of the respondents who proactively discussed SPC, LSRD, and RTW were unexpectedly high (60.7%, 36.1%, and 52.4%, respectively). However, the GOs only provided verbal support for these issues in many cases. CONCLUSION: The Japanese GOs were enthusiastic about survivorship care. However, their tendency to deal with survivors’ problems through their own knowledge and judgments raises concerns about the quality of care. Therefore, creating survivorship care guidelines and enhancing multidisciplinary collaboration should be prioritized.