The association between patients’ perceived continuity of care and beliefs about oral anticancer treatment

Purpose: To explore factors associated with necessity beliefs and concerns among patients receiving oral anticancer therapy (OACT) and, specifically, to examine the relationship between continuity of care (COC) and patients’ beliefs about OACT. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients from four oncology centers receiving OACT (either targeted, hormonal, or chemotherapy). Two months after OACT initiation, patients were asked to participate in a face-to-face or telephone survey. The Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire was used to examine patients’ perceptions of their personal necessity for OACT and concerns about potential adverse effects. The Nijmegen Continuity Questionnaire was used to assess patients’ perceived COC. Data on clinical characteristics were collected from medical records. Results: Participants’ beliefs about OACT necessity (n = 91) were found to be associated with COC within the oncology team, and with COC between the oncology specialist and the primary care physicians (β = 0.27, p = 0.003; β = 0.22, p = 0.02, respectively), beyond age, depression, and cancer type (ΔR² = 0.14, p < 0.001). Additionally, the difference between participants’ beliefs about OACT necessity and their OACT-related concerns was associated with COC within the oncology team (β = 0.30, p = 0.001), beyond age, income, family status, and cancer type (ΔR² = 0.09, p = 0.001). Conclusions: This study shows that cancer patients’ perceptions about the COC between care providers are related to their beliefs about OACT necessity, thus providing evidence for the importance of health care delivery approaches that support COC within the oncology team and between the oncology specialist and the primary care physician.