Disease Course in Oncological Patients During Inpatient Rehabilitation and After Three Months Follow-up

Evaluation of Disease Course in Oncological Patients During Inpatient Rehabilitation and After Three Months Follow-up: a Cohort Study.

Constant improvements in the areas of diagnostics and treatment lead to an increase of patients surviving an oncological diagnosis ("cancer survivors") thus increasing the cost factor on both society and health care systems. Meta-analysis have shown the effectiveness of multidimensional rehabilitation programs concerning cost-effectiveness and for improving different health parameters. However when submitted to oncological rehabilitation in Switzerland there is no clear definition when to use which specific assessment during the different stages of oncological rehabilitation.

This cohort study aims to evaluate and systematically follow-up patients that are assigned for oncological inpatient rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Center Walenstadtberg.

The main purposes are i) to evaluate disease onset of oncological patients during rehabilitation and to identify relationships between mobility and cancer-related fatigue at discharge; ii) to identify predictive factors for everyday functioning and social participation after three months discharge.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosed with "Cancer";
• Literacy and understanding German language;
• Signed informed consent;

Exclusion Criteria:

• Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding / have the intention to become pregnant during the course of the study;
• Other clinically significant concomitant disease states (e.g. renal failure, hepatic dysfunction, cardiovascular disease, etc);
• Known or suspected non-compliance, drug or alcohol abuse;
• Inability to follow the procedures of the study: e.g. due to language problems, psychological disorders, dementia of the participant, etc;
• Enrolment of the investigator, his/her family members, employees and other dependent persons;
• Cognitive impairment: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) < 21;
• Major Depression or Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) >11 at baseline.