Continuity of the doctor/patient relationship during the routine follow-up of a breast cancer patient.

All 551 breast cancer patients diagnosed in 1977-1980 in the Tampere University Hospital District (Finland) were followed-up for 5 years. The patients experienced a total of 1778 woman years during the first 5 years of follow-up. There were more than 20 visits in the first 5 patient years, most to hospitals with specialists in surgery or oncology. Patients saw the same doctor twice, on average, and met an average of 10 different doctors during the 5-year follow-up. The case notes consisted of virtually complete information on the diagnostic tests and disease but rather incomplete information on patients' well-being. It is concluded that the continuity of the doctor/patient relationship was poor, and that consulting the same physician would probably improve the quality of life among breast cancer patients.