Aim: Prehabilitation for cancer surgery involves exercise, nutritional and psychological support. Physiotherapists are key players in the implementation and delivery of this service. However, to date, prehabilitation primarily exists within funded clinical trials and has not been widely or successfully implemented as standard care. The purpose of this study was to explore patients and family preferences of a model of care.
Design: A discrete choice experiment was chosen as they are used frequently in health care service design to determine preferences and trade offs of consumers. This is a natural method for designing a prehabilitation service.
Methods: Cancer survivors (n = 103) and their families (n=18) who received treatment that included a tumour resection were surveyed. There were no cancer type exclusion criteria to reflect real-world patient cohorts. Analysis included a conditional and mixed logit regression model to determine consumer preferences.
Results: Preliminary results include 121 responses. Our findings indicate that 5/6 attributes investigated were statistically significant factors for participants to engage in prehabilitation. Frequency and location of prehabilitation appointments influenced participants uptake, indicating weekly or fortnightly phone calls more preferable. Hospital-based programs were avoided. Higher daily exercise commitment and dietetic support made them more likely to engage. Shorter return to normal activities was statistically significant whereas the risk of dying did not influence choices.
Conclusion: This study gives new insight into the preferences for a prehabilitation for cancer surgery model of care. Although not indicating effectiveness, these results provide important acceptability information for increased uptake and adherence.