Adult cancer patients' barriers to and satisfaction with care at a National Cancer Hospital in Vietnam

Thinh Toan Vu; Marina Weiss; Linh Thi-Hoai Nguyen; Huong Thanh Tran; Hien Thi Ho; Victoria Khanh Ngo

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0303157

Adult cancer patients' barriers to and satisfaction with care at a National Cancer Hospital in Vietnam

PLoS One. 2024 May 9;19(5):e0303157. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303157. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Thinh Toan Vu^{1

2}, Marina Weiss¹, Linh Thi-Hoai Nguyen³, Huong Thanh Tran⁴, Hien Thi Ho⁵, Victoria Khanh Ngo^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Innovation in Mental Health, Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, The City University of New York, New York, New York, United States of America.
² Department of Community Health and Social Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, The City University of New York, New York, New York, United States of America.
³ Asian University for Women, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
⁴ Vietnam National Cancer Institute, K Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam.
⁵ Hanoi University of Public Health, Hanoi, Vietnam.

Abstract

Study objective: This study assessed the overall satisfaction with oncological care, including barriers to care, and identified its associated predictors among adult cancer patients in Vietnam.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 300 adult cancer patients receiving inpatient care at a large urban oncological hospital between June and July 2022. Multivariable linear regression analyses examined associations between patient experiences and overall satisfaction ratings with cancer care.

Results: The mean overall satisfaction with oncological care was 8.82 out of 10, with 98.0% recommending this facility to their friends and family. In an adjusted model, being female (β = 0.29, 95%CI: 0.04, 0.53), endorsing satisfaction with patient-nurse communication (β = 0.33, 95%CI: 0.13, 0.53), patient-doctor communication (β = 0.40, 95%CI: 0.11, 0.70), and psychoeducation about oncological medication management (β = 0.30, 95%CI: 0.14, 0.45) were positively associated with overall ratings. In contrast, individuals with delays in treatment scheduling reported lower overall satisfaction with oncological care (β = -0.38, 95%CI: -0.64, -0.13). Patients perceived health system, social/environmental, and individual barriers to care: worries about income loss due to attending treatment (43.3%); fear, depression, anxiety, and distress (36.8%); concerns about affordability of treatment (36.7%) and transportation problems (36.7%); and excessive waiting times for appointments (28.8%).

Conclusion: This study showed high overall patient satisfaction with cancer care quality. Patient-centered communication strategies and psychoeducation about oncological medication management may be targeted to further enhance the cancer inpatient experience. Raising awareness about treatment options and services, and integrating mental health awareness into oncological care may ameliorate patient distress and facilitate greater satisfaction with oncological treatment processes.

Copyright: © 2024 Vu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Cancer Care Facilities
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Health Services Accessibility
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasms* / psychology
Neoplasms* / therapy
Patient Satisfaction* / statistics & numerical data
Vietnam

Grants and funding

This study was supported by Grant Number R25CA112383 from the National Cancer Institute (TTV). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.