Satisfaction with routine follow-up visits to the physician--the needs of patients with breast cancer.

Follow-up visits after surgery for breast cancer constitute a large proportion of the outpatient consultations at surgical and oncological clinics. The reasons for the follow-ups include early detection of relapse, patients' well-being, and data collection for quality assurance and scientific studies. The aim of this study was to describe the needs of the patient with breast cancer and satisfaction with routine follow-up visits to the physician. A strategic sample of 20 women with breast cancer, routinely followed-up at an oncology outpatient clinic, was interviewed. A qualitative descriptive design inspired by the phenomenographic method was used. The results identified the need for routines, accessibility, security, continuity, confidence and information. The women's views demonstrated that there are strong reasons for reviewing and changing the design of the traditional follow-up system to obtain the most effective and well-functioning system possible to better meet these women's needs.