Qualitative data collection and analysis
Cancer
APPENDIX, CANCER
To gain a comprehensive insight into patient experiences, patients from both the GP-led and surgeon-led trial arms were interviewed at various time points in their follow-up programme (range 3–6 years after surgery). All patients had finished their 3-year follow-up period, during which most follow-up consultations take place according to the national guideline.Purposive sampling was used next to obtain a representative patient sample. The researchers aimed to include patients who had a (temporary) stoma, and patients who had transferred from the GP back to the surgeon because their experiences with care could differ. Overall 36 patients were contacted via email and telephone, of which 16 patients agreed to participate (eight could not be reached, eight had no interest in an interview, and four mentioned they had little contact with their healthcare provider). Interviewers and patients had no prior relationship.An interview guide was designed, consisting of two components: starting with an open, narrative component, encouraging patients to elaborate on their experiences, followed by a semi-structured component based on the Quality of Cancer Survivorship Care framework, as proposed by Nekhlyudov The interviews were conducted by the second author and another Master’s student (who is acknowledged). The first four interviews were attended by the first author to guarantee the quality of the interview techniques. All interviews (except one) were held through videoconferencing or telephone due to the security measures surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and anonymised by the second author and Master’s student previously mentioned. Transcripts were verified against original audio data by the first author. Mean interview duration was 43 min (range 15–79 min).Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis.Transcripts were coded using MAXQDA Plus software (version 20.3.0). The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Studies (COREQ) were used for the reporting of the qualitative study results (Supplementary Appendix S2).