Under 50% of Oncology Practices Offer Survivorship Clinics
Just 41% of oncology practice groups offer a general survivorship clinic for cancer survivors, according to a study published online in JNCI Cancer Spectrum.
“National cancer organizations recommend provision of nutrition, physical activity, and mental health supportive services to cancer survivors,” wrote corresponding author Jamie M. Faro, PhD, of the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, and coauthors. “However, the availability of these services across diverse community oncology settings remains unclear.”
To investigate the availability of survivorship clinics and nutrition, physical activity, and mental health services, resources, or referrals, researchers analyzed data from the 2022 National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) Landscape Assessment survey. A total 45 out of 46 NCORP community sites responded to the survey, representing 259 adult oncology practice groups.
General survivorship clinics were offered by 106 of the 259 practice groups, according to the study. Meanwhile, 96% of oncology practices offered mental health, 94% offered nutrition services, and 53% offered physical activity services, resources, and/or referrals. Just over half offered mental health, nutrition, and physical activity services in various formats (in-house, referrals, education), and only one-quarter offered all 3 services in-house.
The odds ratio for a survivorship clinic was 3.19 in practices with advanced practice providers compared with practices without advanced practice providers, the study found. Odds ratios for offering all 3 supportive services in any format were 2.54 for practices with at least 30% Medicare patients. Odds ratios for offering all 3 services in-house were 3.41 for practices with at least 30% Medicare patients and 2.84 for practices with a survivorship clinic.
“Larger oncology practices and those caring for more survivors on Medicare provided more supportive services, resources, and/or referrals,” researchers wrote. “Smaller practices and those without survivorship clinics may need strategies to address potential gaps in supportive services.”
Reference
Faro JM, Dressler EV, Kittel C, et al. Availability of cancer survivorship support services across the National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program network. JNCI Cancer Spectr. 2024;8(1):pkae005. doi:10.1093/jncics/pkae005
