The effects of cancer surgery and treatment harm patients' life and working ability: major causes of this can be intensified by the postoperative symptoms. This study, the first part of the HEAGIS project (Health and Employment after Gastrointestinal Surgery), proposes a method to assess patients and caregivers' competences in dealing with postoperative course and the related needs to improve the adequate competences. In this observational study, an ad hoc structured interview was conducted with 47 patients and 15 caregivers between the third and fifteenth postoperative day. Oesophageal (38%), esophagogastric junction (13%), gastric (30%), colon (8%) and rectum (11%) cancer patients were considered. Computerized textual data analysis methodology was used to identify levels of competences. Text analysis highlighted three different levels (low, medium and high) of four specific types of patients and caregivers' competences. In particular, the overall trend of the preview of future scenarios and use of resource competences was low. Less critical were situation evaluation and preview repercussion of own actions' competences. Caregivers' trends were similar. The Kruskal-Wallis test did not distinguish any differences in the level of competences related to the characteristics of the participants. Patients and caregivers are not accurate in planning the future after surgery, using personal beliefs rather than referring to physicians, and not recognizing adequate resources. The medium-low competences' trend leads to unexpected critical situations, and patients could not deal with them in a maximally effective way. Both patients and caregivers should be taken over by healthcare professionals to improve patients' competences and make the curative surgery effective in daily life.
Keywords: M.A.D.I.T. methodology; competences; health; qualitative research; surgery; text analysis; upper GI–GI cancer.