The impact of travel on cancer patients' experiences of treatment: a literature review

This Literature review aims to identify the impact of travel on cancer pati ents' experiences of treatment. With centralization of cancer services, pat ients may have to travel considerable distances from their homes and famili es, to receive specialist cancer treatment. Centralization of cancer servic es may have advantages in terms of concentrating clinical expertise, enhanc ing the range of ancillary facilities and rationalising the provision of ex pensive specialist equipment, but it is not known to what extent patients a re affected by additional travel and the prospect of separation from their social networks. A systematic literature search using MEDLINE, SSCI, SOCA a nd PSYCHLIT, identified 11 relevant studies from six countries. The review showed a paucity of research on the implications of receiving cancer treatm ent far from home. Most studies can be criticised on methodological grounds . The evidence that travel distance and difficulty increases psychological distress, and reduces compliance with treatment and take up of treatment is largely inconclusive. However, travel to cancer treatment is described as inconvenient and a practical hardship for many patients. It may be perceive d, or experienced as, a barrier to treatment. Future studies should evaluat e the impact of travel to treatment on quality of life and perceived social support.