Dataset Information

A multidisciplinary pediatric oncofertility team improves fertility preservation and counseling across 7 years.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Oncofertility is a developing field of increasing importance, particularly in pediatric oncology, where most patients are likely to survive long-term and have not yet had the opportunity to have children.

Aims

We performed a quality improvement initiative to increase our rates of fertility preservation counseling and referral through the implementation of a pediatric oncofertility team, and we report outcomes 7 years following implementation of our initiative.

Methods and results

We compare our baseline oncofertility survey to 44 post-intervention survey respondents and electronic medical record documentation for 149 patients treated in 2019. Ninety-five percent of post-intervention survey respondents recalled fertility counseling (baseline 70%, p = .004) and 89.3% were appropriately referred for fertility preservation (baseline 50%, p = .017). Counseling was documented in 60.4% of charts; 81% of patients analyzed by chart review were appropriately referred for fertility preservation. Fertility preservation outcomes differed by sex assigned at birth.

Conclusion

Creation of an oncofertility team produced improvements in fertility counseling and fertility preservation referral across an extended period of time.

SUBMITTER: Ligon JA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9939996 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

A multidisciplinary pediatric oncofertility team improves fertility preservation and counseling across 7 years.

Ligon John A JA Hayashi Masanori M Ciampa Devon D Kramer Cara C Guastella Alfredo A Fuchs Robert J RJ Herati Amin S AS Christianson Mindy S MS Chen Allen R AR

Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) 20221108 2

<h4>Background</h4>Oncofertility is a developing field of increasing importance, particularly in pediatric oncology, where most patients are likely to survive long-term and have not yet had the opportunity to have children.<h4>Aims</h4>We performed a quality improvement initiative to increase our rates of fertility preservation counseling and referral through the implementation of a pediatric oncofertility team, and we report outcomes 7 years following implementation of our initiative.<h4>Method ...[more]

PMID: 36346013

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Project description:PurposeInfertility is a major problem affecting children, adolescents, and young adults (AYAs) with cancer, either due to the disease itself or because of oncologic treatment. Oncofertility (OF) focuses on counseling cancer patients about fertility risks and preservation options. However, OF and fertility preservation (FP) conversations on Twitter and their impact are unknown. We aim to characterize the users and type of content of these conversations.Materials and methodsThis observational study analyzed tweets with the hashtags "#Oncofertility" and "#FertilityPreservation" over eight months. We classified Twitter accounts by user type and country. Tweets were categorized by content type, and retweets and likes were quantified. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis.ResultsA total of 399 tweets from 223 different accounts were evaluated. Twitter accounts comprised 22 countries and stemmed from high, upper-middle, and lower-middle-income countries in 86.5%, 5.4%, and 6.3%, respectively; no accounts from low-income countries were found. Accounts were mostly from physicians (37%) and healthcare centers (20%); we did not find any patient accounts. The most common content category was informative tweets directed to patients (30.8%), followed by discussion/sharing of medical papers (25.6%). Only 14.5% of tweets contained information about children and adolescents. Still, only 4.5% were aimed at children. Retweets were absent in 16.5% of the tweets, and 80.7% did not have comments.ConclusionOF and FP discussions on Twitter were limited to interactions among medical professionals. Also, advocacy groups showed limited activity on social media. Even though a significant proportion of tweets directed to patients were found, no active involvement of patients was observed. Finally, limited number of tweets (4.5%) were directed to children and adolescents. There is a need to raise awareness about the effects of cancer on fertility in this group. Currently, Twitter is not a resource of information for children and AYAs with cancer who need OF counseling and fertility preservation. Our results open a debate on how to promote the use of social media in the future to improve the quality of OF information available, awareness, and care since there is an unmet need for fertility preservation access in young cancer patients.

Project description:PurposeFertility preservation (FP) is an important issue for young survivors of breast cancer. Although international guidelines recommend pre-treatment fertility counseling for women with breast cancer, there is no standardized protocol or referral system for FP in South Korea. There are also barriers to discussing FP that make patient-centered decision making difficult. This study aimed to develop a shared decision making program for FP and compare the rates of FP procedures between the usual care and shared decision making groups. We hypothesized that multidisciplinary shared decision making for FP would increase the rate of FP procedures and patient satisfaction.MethodsThe multidisciplinary shared decision making for FP in young women with breast cancer (MYBC) is a multicenter, clustered, stepped-wedge, randomized trial. A total of 1100 patients with breast cancer, aged 19-40 years, from nine hospitals in South Korea, will be enrolled. They will be randomized at the institutional level and assigned to usual care and shared decision making groups. Four institutions, each of which can recruit more than 200 patients, will each become a cluster, whereas five institutions, each of which can recruit more than 50 patients, will become one cluster, for a total of five clusters. The shared decision making groups will receive multidisciplinary programs for FP developed by the investigator. The primary outcome is the rate of FP procedures; secondary outcomes include fertility results, satisfaction, and quality of life. Outcomes will be measured at enrollment, treatment initiation, and the 1-, 3-, and 5-year follow-ups after starting breast cancer treatment.DiscussionA multidisciplinary shared decision making program for FP is expected to increase fertility rates and satisfaction among young patients with breast cancer. This study will provide the evidence to implement a multidisciplinary system for patients with breast cancer.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05139641. Registered on December 1, 2021.

Project description:BackgroundThe fertility of adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with cancer can be threatened by treatments, but to the authors' knowledge little is known regarding the extent to which providers discuss this with patients or recommend fertility preservation, or the patient and physician characteristics associated with these interactions.MethodsQuestionnaires from 459 AYA patients with cancer who were diagnosed between 2007 and 2008 and recruited through 7 US population-based cancer registries were analyzed using sex-specific multivariable models. The authors assessed characteristics associated with not discussing therapy effects on fertility or fertility preservation options, and not making fertility preservation arrangements.ResultsMales without a medical oncologist were more likely not to be told that therapy might affect fertility than those with a medical oncologist (male odds ratio [OR], 2.28; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.03-5.00). Individuals without insurance (male OR, 2.91 [95% CI, 1.41-5.91] and female OR, 5.46 [95% CI, 1.59-18.72]); those raising children aged <18 years; and, among males only, those who received treatment posing no or a low fertility risk (OR, 3.39; 95% CI, 1.60-7.16) were more likely not to discuss fertility preservation with providers. Finally, among males, those without a college degree (OR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.00-3.97), lacking private insurance (OR, 2.97; 95% CI, 1.16-7.63), and raising children aged <18 years (OR, 3.53; 95% CI, 1.63-7.65) were more likely to not make fertility preservation arrangements; too few females had made fertility preservation arrangements for similar analyses to be performed.ConclusionsDiscussion and action surrounding fertility preservation for AYA patients with cancer are associated with medical factors, patient socioeconomic data, and child-rearing status. These results highlight the need for insurance coverage for fertility preservation and increased awareness of fertility preservation options.

Dataset Information

A multidisciplinary pediatric oncofertility team improves fertility preservation and counseling across 7 years.

Background

Aims

Methods and results

Conclusion

Publications

A multidisciplinary pediatric oncofertility team improves fertility preservation and counseling across 7 years.

Similar Datasets

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