Patients’ experience of their health changes when under investigation for pulmonary disease – the ongoing PEK-Lung project

Introduction: The majority of patients with lung cancer (LC) are diagnosed in advanced stages. Increased specificity about symptoms associated with LC might enable earlier diagnosis. This may allow timely alleviation of symptom distress and increase curative surgical treatment as an option. In this project, we study patients’ subjective experiences of early health changes prior to LC diagnosis and link these changes to biomarker analyses. Method: Patients at initial evaluation at one ambulatory unit at Department of Respiratory Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden, are asked to participate in the project. Patients complete an interactive individualized web-based questionnaire on a touchpad, consisting of 10 subject areas based on 163 descriptors generated through qualitative interviews. An assistant is available for further instructions or assistance. Blood samples are taken for the biobank. Results: From November 3, 2014, to March 1, 2015, 231 new patients were registered at the clinic, of which 195 were invited to participate (12 were excluded due to language difficulties and 24 cancelled their Clinical appointment). In total, 122 (63%) of the patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included. Lack of time and fatiguewere commonreasons for non-participation. Our ambition is to include 500 patients. Discussion: This project is a unique collaboration, beginning with patient experiences, including research input spanning from bench to bedside, and driven by a nursing perspective. Challenges for feasibility, especially anchoring, ownership, and communication demands, will be discussed. Keyword: COPD