[Psycho-oncologic after-care--is there a need in a tumor center? Results of a survey of 200 patients of the Heidelberg University Gynecologic Clinic].

In an ongoing study at the department of gynaecology and obstetrics of Heidelberg University Hospital, 200 patients of the oncological outpatient department have so far been interviewed about how they experienced their illness, their therapy, the success of treatment and the after-care. An interim analysis of the questionnaires produced the following results: 1. Most patients (84%) judge the success of their treatment to be good or very good and place themselves in the upper sector of the scale of quality of life. 2. The time of diagnosis was indicated to have been the hardest period during the illness. 3. When evaluating different forms of treatment, hormone treatment has been described by most of the patients as having been well tolerated, whereas chemotherapy has been rated low (some even discontinued 5.1%). 4. Most of the assistance in coping with the disease seems to have come from the patients' families; however, some described their families as a burden during the illness. 5. Only less than half of the patients (44.2%) seem to have been able to satisfactorily discuss their psychological burdens during the after-care. 6. Most of the patients (77.5%) would like the hospital to look more after psychological problems of cancer patients. 7. Most patients would like to speak about the topics of self-esteem as a woman, happiness, competitiveness, unconventional methods of treatment and fear. 8. The majority of respondents (80%) would prefer a constant counterpart (doctor, nurse) for the oncological after-care. More cases will be necessary to analyse the effects of age, education, and type of cancer (mamma/genital, low/high risk) of the questionnaire results.