Feasibility and outcomes of a real-world regional lung cancer prehabilitation programme in the UK

Patrick Goodley, Zoe Merchant, Kirsty Rowlinson-Groves, Marcus Taylor, John Moore, Matthew Evison

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Background
Prehabilitation, or multimodality patient optimisation before major treatment, has demonstrated meaningful improvements in patients' outcomes. In the setting of lung cancer surgery, postoperative complications and length of hospital stay are reduced, but there is currently limited access to prehabilitation. Prehab4Cancer (P4C) is an innovative regional programme serving all areas of Greater Manchester (GM).

Methods
The lung cancer P4C service commenced in 2019 as a collaboration between the GM Cancer alliance and 12 leisure and community organisations. Patients planning surgical resection could be referred to receive exercise, nutrition, and well-being assessment and interventions before surgery. We evaluated the programme's feasibility, uptake, and outcomes during the 11 months before COVID-19 restrictions.

Results
In total, 377 patients were referred to the lung cancer P4C service from all 11 hospitals in GM. Of the patients reached by telephone, 80.0% (n=280/348) attended initial P4C assessment, which occurred a median of 8 days (inter-quartile range [IQR]: 4–14) after referral. In addition, 74.3% (n=280/377) attended for baseline assessment and 47.7% (n=180/377) completed prehabilitation, attending a median of six sessions (IQR: 4–9). Statistically significant improvements in all objective physiological and subjective functional assessments were observed preoperatively, including a mean increase in the incremental shuttle walk test of 50 m (95% confidence interval: 25–74; P<0.001).

Conclusions
The P4C programme demonstrated feasibility at scale, high uptake, and promising impact on the status of patients with lung cancer before surgery. P4C is the first regional prehabilitation service internationally, and this evaluation provides a framework for implementing similar services in other regions.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e47-e55
JournalBritish Journal of Anaesthesia
Volume130
Issue number1
Early online date13 Jul 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2023

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