A nurse case management intervention improved medical care given to older women with newly diagnosed breast cancer
Q Does a nurse case management intervention (NCMI) improve the medical care of community dwelling women ⩾65 years of age with newly diagnosed breast cancer?
METHODS
Design:
cluster randomised controlled trial.
Allocation:
{concealed}*.
Blinding:
blinded (outcome assessors).
Follow up period:
12 months of intervention.
Setting:
13 community and 2 public hospitals in southeast Texas, USA.
Patients:
335 community dwelling women ⩾65 years of age (mean age 72 y) who had newly diagnosed breast cancer.
Intervention:
patients (in clusters at the level of the attending surgeon) were allocated in a stratified design (with surgeons stratified by total number of new patients with breast cancer seen in the previous year) to an NCMI for 12 months (n = 30 surgeons with 169 patients) or usual care (n = 30 surgeons with 166 patients). The NCMI included 40 hours of training for …
