ABSENTEEISM OF PATIENTS UNDERGOING RADIOTHERAPY TREATMENT

Introduction: Radiotherapy is a locoregional treatment modality, that has the purpose of cure, remission, prophylaxis or palliation, being indicated exclusively or associated with other cancer treatment modalities, being one of the main treatment alternatives in malignant tumors. Radiotherapy conventional fractionation depends on the protocol type and presents daily sessions. This factor influences the patient’s adherence to treatment and their frequency to the sessions. Numerous causes are related to patient absenteeism and can be divided into predictable and unpredictable causes. Goals and Objectives: To identify the main causes of absenteeism among patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment in an oncology hospital in the southern region of Brazil from January to December 2018. Methodology: Retrospective, quantitative and descriptive study conducted in a cancer hospital in the southern region of the country. Data were obtained from the TasyR institution’s information system and analyzed within Microsoft Office Excel 2010. Results: A total of 2,105 patients who were absent from teletherapy treatment were identified, totaling 6,638 untreated radiotherapy sessions. Regarding the non-performed radiotherapy sessions, 4,374 (66%) were justified and 2,264 (34%) were not justified. The most frequent reasons found in justified absences were: corrective device maintenance (22%), other (14%), brachytherapy (9.6%), medical discharge (7.20%), preventive device maintenance (3.49). %), other complications (2.81%), new simulation (1.8%), travel / leisure (1.6%), lack of transportation (1.6%), INSS expertise (1.4%), brachytherapy (1.1%) and withdrew treatment (0.4%). Conclusion: Corrective maintenance of the device was the most frequent reason for treatment absenteeism. Interruptions in radiotherapy sessions can interfere with the timeliness of the service and impact the patient’s prognosis.

Publication History

Article published online:
23 October 2019