Trial Information

Recovery and Rehabilitation After Lung Cancer Surgery

Approximately 2500 patients are diagnosed with lung cancer annually i Norway, and
approximately 400 of these undergo surgery. Many patients report that life after lung cancer
surgery is difficult. After surgery, the patients are frequently transferred to a local
hospital or to another level of care at the hospital where they were operated. The transfer
is critical for patients' safety because communication failure is one of the most common
causes of medical error.

Studies that have analyzed the quality of life of lung cancer patients after surgery reach
different conclusions about the patients' Quality of life (QOL), some studies state that
lung cancer patients are back to normal quality of life after 9 months, while others
indicate that the patients still have reduced QOL two years after surgery. It is difficult
to assess the reason for the differences in results as most of the studies used the same QOL
questionnaire. Studies that have evaluated the social support that lung cancer patients
receive indicate that lung cancer patients receive less support than other cancer patients.

Lung cancer patients have a wide range of physical problems (fatigue, dyspnea, coughing and
pain) and psychological (depression) problems following surgery.

Based on findings from this literature review a need exist for improved postoperative
follow-up of patients after surgery for lung cancer The proposed study will evaluate the
social support, the levels of lung cancer stigma, symptoms and changes in this over time as
well as evaluate patient experience with transfer in the immediate postoperative period.