Authors (including presenting author) :
Li LK(1), Chau SW(1), Ng YB(1), Tsang WY(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Medicine and Geriatric, United Christian Hospital
Introduction :
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common type of cancer in Hong Kong. It is an aggressive tumor which is typically diagnosed late, majority of patients are not eligible for surgical resection due to tumor extent or underlying liver dysfunction. Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is one of the non-surgical treatment modalities for those patients, which combines embolization and chemotherapy in angiography mean. However, due to the fullness of SOPD sessions, there is limited time for doctors to explain the whole journey of TACE to patients. As a consequence, most patients in our unit, who are admitted for first time TACE, have no idea about the treatment and would express their anxiety. In order to allay their anxiety, we propose this proactive education for them in view of their knowledge deficit.
Objectives :
Patients show understanding on the journey of TACE so as to allay their anxiety level.
Methodology :
Patients will be screened every week according to the list which is given by radiologists. Education via telephone calls will be delivered to the patients who are physically and cognitively capable about 3-4 days before admission. The contents of education are as follow:
1. Reason of TACE
2. Preparation prior TACE
3. Medication before and after TACE
4. Importance of bed rest after TACE
5. Complications of TACE
6. Possible length of hospitalization
7. Possible follow up plan
At the end of the education, 7 questions related to above 7 aspects will be asked to assess their understanding of TACE and their satisfaction of phone education will be evaluated with the use of questionnaire.
Result & Outcome :
From May 2018 to December 2019, 55 male patients admitted for the first time TACE were recruited to the program. Over 90% patients could answer all 7 questions; reinforcement would be given on admission day. All patients commented the phone education was useful with average score 4.98 (scale of 1-5, 5: the most useful), 94.5% of patients agreed that the education can allay their anxiety with average score 4.87 (scale of 1-5, 5: agree most ). To conclude, the education program was helpful of great benefit to the patients, thus it is worthy to sustain the service.
