Assessment of Major Problems Expressed by Cancer Patients during Follow Up for Cancer Disease in COVID-19 Pandemic Period: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

COVID-19 has hit almost all domains of our lives, including cancer care. Cancer care is the continuous process of maintaining the healthy, stable, and good quality of life of a cancer patient. Such an endeavor always needs good follow-up and maintenance of effective connectivity with the patients and their care-givers. For better and more successful patient care, resources are to be made available as per need, and such needs can be best understood by maintaining communication with the patients or their care givers. In the present study, patients and their care givers were inquired by using a pre-framed questionnaire to find out the problems for cancer patients on follow-up during the COVID-19 pandemic. The suspension of regular transportation, which is one of the most important cornerstones of COVID-19 pandemic control, was discovered to be a major problem for cancer patients on follow-up, and this scarcity of regular vehicles, in turn, increased the financial burden of the patients and their caregivers to continue follow-up. As a result of this information, follow-up may be reallocated and decentralized to locations near the patients' residences whenever possible. Two more things were also learnt: most of the patients included in the study have accessibility to mobile phones, and they are interested in discussing physical problems.