Evaluation of oncological patients’ satisfaction with venous port implantation

Introduction
This study aimed to assess the patient satisfaction from vascular port implantation.

Material and methods
The study was conducted among patients hospitalized in one of the oncology wards in the Podbeskidzie region, from November 2018 to January 2019. The inclusion criterion was having a vascular port for at least 3 months and expressing voluntary consent to complete the questionnaire. For the purpose of this study, a method of diagnostic survey was applied, with a questionnaire of his own design. Each questionnaire composed of 2 sections: (1) general information about the respondents and (2) main section containing questions related to the use of vascular port.

Results
The most common reasons to implant the vascular port were as follows: the need for comfort during oncological treatment (34.8%), problems with insertion of a peripheral venous access (28.6%), and the persuasion of medical personnel (25.9%). Over 70% of respondents were in favour of port implantation at an earlier stage. The vast majority of respondents (77.7%) assessed their knowledge of ports as sufficient. Almost 68% of respondents expressed their high satisfaction with individual port properties, and only 7.1% reported high dissatisfaction. The most important were the port’s durability and lack of pain. The longer the period of using the port, the greater the reported general comfort during treatment.

Conclusions
Vascular port implantation significantly increased the satisfaction of the oncological patients, and most aspects related to the use of vascular ports were assessed positively.