Young, Empowered and Strong: A Web-Based Education and Supportive Care Intervention for Young Women With Breast Cancer Across the Care Continuum

2021 ◽  
pp. 933-943
Author(s):  
Tal Sella ◽  
Craig Snow ◽  
Hannah Freeman ◽  
Philip D. Poorvu ◽  
Shoshana M. Rosenberg ◽  
...  

PURPOSE Patient-centered digital interventions may help empower young women to self-manage symptoms and psychosocial concerns and support informational needs often unaddressed in clinic. METHODS Young, Empowered and Strong (YES) is an interactive web-based intervention designed to engage young women with personalized education and symptom self-management resources on the basis of responses to patient-reported outcome–based questionnaires. We piloted YES among young women (< 45 years) with newly diagnosed early breast cancer (EBC) or metastatic breast cancer (MBC) and breast cancer survivors (BCSs). Assessments were deployed weekly (EBC and MBC) or every 4 weeks (BCSs) over 12 weeks. At study completion, use, feasibility, and acceptability of YES were evaluated via a survey and semistructured interview. RESULTS Thirty women were enrolled between April and June 2019: 10 EBC, 10 BCSs, and 10 MBC. The mean age at diagnosis and enrollment was 36 (range 25-44) and 39 (range 31-44) years, respectively. Most participants were actively treated (96%, 27 of 28) with endocrine therapy (54%, 15 of 28) or chemotherapy (43%, 12 of 28). Overall, 61% (180 of 296) of assessments were completed (EBC: 70%, BCSs: 63%, and MBC: 52%). Of 37 patient-reported outcome and need domains, the most frequently triggered were sexual health (EBC: 90%, BCSs: 90%, and MBC: 90%), anxiety (EBC: 80%, BCSs: 90%, and MBC: 90%), stress and mindfulness (EBC: 80%, BCSs: 90%, and MBC: 90%), and fatigue (EBC: 90%, BCSs: 80%, and MBC: 90%). On postpilot survey, participants reported that YES helped them to learn (50%, 7 of 14), monitor (43%, 6 of 14), and manage (57%, 8 of 14) their symptoms. CONCLUSION YES is a feasible and acceptable digital intervention to support young women across the breast cancer care continuum. The nearly universal triggering of sexual and mental health needs suggests suboptimal management in the clinical setting and the potential for self-management through a digital platform.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindy Paulina Johanna Arts ◽  
Simone Oerlemans ◽  
Jacobien M Kieffer ◽  
Judith Prins ◽  
Mels Hoogendoorn ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND There has been a cultural shift toward patient engagement in health with a growing demand from patients to access their results. OBJECTIVE The Lymphoma InterVEntion [LIVE] trial was conducted to examine the impact of return of individual patient-reported outcome (PRO) results and a web-based self-management intervention on psychological distress, self-management, and satisfaction with information in a population-based setting. METHODS Return of PRO results included comparison with age- and sex-matched peers and was built into the PROFILES registry. The self-management intervention is an adaptation of an fully-automated evidence-based intervention for breast cancer survivors. Patients with lymphoma who completed the web-based questionnaire were equally randomized to 1) care as usual (CAU), 2) return of PRO results, and 3) return of PRO results plus self-management intervention. Patients completed questionnaires 9 to 18 months after diagnosis (T0; n=227), after 4 months (T1; n=190), and after 12 months (T2; n=170). RESULTS Of all invited patients, 25% (227/892) were randomly assigned to CAU (n=76), return of PRO results (n=74), or return of PRO results and access to Living with lymphoma (n=77). Return of PRO results was viewed by 77% (115/150) of those with access. No significant differences were observed for psychological distress, self-management, satisfaction with information provision, and healthcare use between patients who received their PRO results and those who did not (P>.05). Usage of the self-management intervention was low (3%; 2/76) and an effect could therefore not be determined. CONCLUSIONS Return of individual PRO results seems to meet patients’ wishes, but had no beneficial effects on patient outcome. Also, no negative effects were found when individual PRO results were disclosed, and the return of individual PRO results can be safely implemented in daily clinical practice. CLINICALTRIAL Netherlands Trial Register NTR5953 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-10.1186/s13063-017-1943-2


BMC Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeeyeon Lee ◽  
Jin Hyang Jung ◽  
Wan Wook Kim ◽  
Byeongju Kang ◽  
Jungmin Woo ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose The incidence of depression and anxiety is higher in patients with breast cancer than in the general population. We evaluated the degree of depression and anxiety and investigated the changes in patients with breast cancer during the treatment period and short-term follow-up period. Methods Overall, 137 patients with breast cancer were evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item depression scale (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7). The scales were developed as a web-based electronic patient-reported outcome measure, and serial results were assessed before the operation, after the operation, in the post-treatment period, and in the 6-month follow-up period after surgery. Results The degree of depression and anxiety increased during treatment and decreased at 6-month follow-up, even if there were no statistical differences among the four periods (PHQ-9: p = 0.128; GAD-7: p = 0.786). However, daily fatigue (PHQ-9 Q4) and insomnia (PHQ-9 Q3) were the most serious problems encountered during treatment and at 6-month follow-up, respectively. In the GAD-7, worrying too much (Q3) consistently showed the highest scores during the treatment and follow-up periods. Of the patients, 7 (5.11%) and 11 (8.03%) patients had a worsened state of depression and anxiety, respectively, after treatment compared with before treatment. Conclusion Most factors associated with depression and anxiety improved after treatment. However, factors such as insomnia and worrying too much still disturbed patients with breast cancer, even at 6-month follow-up. Therefore, serial assessment of depression and anxiety is necessary for such patients.


10.2196/19685 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. e19685
Author(s):  
Afaf Girgis ◽  
Ivana Durcinoska ◽  
Anthony Arnold ◽  
Joseph Descallar ◽  
Nasreen Kaadan ◽  
...  

Background Despite the acceptability and efficacy of e–patient-reported outcome (ePRO) systems, implementation in routine clinical care remains challenging. Objective This pragmatic trial implemented the PROMPT-Care (Patient Reported Outcome Measures for Personalized Treatment and Care) web-based system into existing clinical workflows and evaluated its effectiveness among a diverse population of patients with cancer. Methods Adult patients with solid tumors receiving active treatment or follow-up care in four cancer centers were enrolled. The PROMPT-Care intervention supported patient management through (1) monthly off-site electronic PRO physical symptom and psychosocial well-being assessments, (2) automated electronic clinical alerts notifying the care team of unresolved clinical issues following two consecutive assessments, and (3) tailored online patient self-management resources. Propensity score matching was used to match controls with intervention patients in a 4:1 ratio for patient age, sex, and treatment status. The primary outcome was a reduction in emergency department presentations. Secondary outcomes were time spent on chemotherapy and the number of allied health service referrals. Results From April 2016 to October 2018, 328 patients from four public hospitals received the intervention. Matched controls (n=1312) comprised the general population of patients with cancer, seen at the participating hospitals during the study period. Emergency department visits were significantly reduced by 33% (P=.02) among patients receiving the intervention compared with patients in the matched controls. No significant associations were found in allied health referrals or time to end of chemotherapy. At baseline, the most common patient reported outcomes (above-threshold) were fatigue (39%), tiredness (38.4%), worry (32.9%), general wellbeing (32.9%), and sleep (24.1%), aligning with the most frequently accessed self-management domain pages of physical well-being (36%) and emotional well-being (23%). The majority of clinical feedback reports were reviewed by nursing staff (729/893, 82%), largely in response to the automated clinical alerts (n=877). Conclusions Algorithm-supported web-based systems utilizing patient reported outcomes in clinical practice reduced emergency department presentations among a diverse population of patients with cancer. This study also highlighted the importance of (1) automated triggers for reviewing above-threshold results in patient reports, rather than passive manual review of patient records; (2) the instrumental role nurses play in managing alerts; and (3) providing patients with resources to support guided self-management, where appropriate. Together, these factors will inform the integration of web-based PRO systems into future models of routine cancer care. Trial Registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12616000615482; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=370633 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.1186/s12885-018-4729-3


10.2196/17422 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. e17422
Author(s):  
Marscha M Engelen ◽  
Sandra van Dulmen ◽  
Saskia Puijk-Hekman ◽  
Hester Vermeulen ◽  
Maria WG Nijhuis-van der Sanden ◽  
...  

Background Web-based self-management programs have the potential to support patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) in their self-management (eg, by focusing on behavior change and improving physical activity). The intervention mapping framework was used to develop a web-based program called Vascular View. The Vascular View program contained 6 modules (coping with CVD, setting boundaries, lifestyle, healthy nutrition, being physically active, interaction with health professionals) aiming to increase self-management behavior by tailoring to the perceived problems and (support) needs of patients after CVD. Objective The aim was to test the effectiveness of Vascular View before embarking on a full-scale randomized clinical trial (RCT) by evaluating the potential effectiveness and effect sizes of the Vascular View program and identifying outcome measures most likely to capture the potential benefits. Methods An explorative RCT was performed. Both control and intervention groups received care as usual and, in addition, the intervention group received 12 months of access to a web-based self-management program. Assessment occurred at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Outcome measures included general patient-reported outcome measurements: Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ), Rand-36, Patient Activation Measure, and patient self-efficacy. Module-specific patient-reported outcome measurements were Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire, International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Dutch Healthy Diet Index, Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND), Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, and Perceived Efficacy in Patient-Physician Interaction. Linear mixed models for repeated measures using intention-to-treat and per-protocol analysis were applied to study differences between the patients in the intervention and control groups. Floor and ceiling effects were explored to give insight into the outcome measures most likely to capture the potential benefits. Results A total of 105 patients in the control group and 103 patients in the intervention group participated in the study. A positive direction of change between baseline and 12 months was shown for most outcome measurements in favor of the intervention group, of which 2 out of 10 outcomes showed a significant effect: attribution of cause of the disease to risk factors and immunity factors (IPQ) and dependency of nicotine (FTND). Floor and ceiling effects were seen in the IPQ, Rand-36, and the self-efficacy questionnaire. Conclusions No conclusion for the efficacy of the Vascular View program or selection of outcome measurements can be taken yet. A process evaluation will be conducted to gain thorough insight into the working elements of the program, patient needs in eHealth, and the use of the program by patients. This can determine for whom web-based self-management programs will work and help to adapt the program. Trial Registration Dutch Trial Register NTR5412; https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/5303 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.2196/resprot.6352


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