Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York.
Cancer Med. 2018 Nov;7(11):5812-5819. doi: 10.1002/cam4.1660. Epub 2018 Oct 2.
Supportive care is a critical component of the treatment of cancer patients that is underutilized; patient lack of information about these services is an important barrier. Mobile technologies may be useful tools for delivering information, but cancer patient use of and interest in using them to learn about supportive care services have not been described. This study evaluates factors associated with cancer patient use of mobile technologies and interest in smartphone applications for information delivery about supportive care.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey among cancer patients from one urban academic hospital and 11 community hospitals. Patients self-reported use of mobile technologies and interest in smartphone applications. Multivariate logistic analysis was used to identify determinants of mobile technology use and smartphone interest.
Among 631 participants, 466 (74%) reported regular use of mobile devices and 242 (39%) expressed an interest in supportive care information via smartphone applications. Patients under 45 were more likely to use a mobile device (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 6.8, 2.8-16.9 95% CI, P < 0.001) and were interested in smartphone applications for delivery of information (AOR 3.2, 1.8-5.9 95% CI, P < 0.001). Non-white patients had similar use of mobile technology compared to whites but reported greater interest in smartphone application-based information (AOR 3.4, 2.1-5.5 95% CI, P < 0.001).
Many patients expressed interest in smartphone application-based information about supportive care services, especially those who are younger and non-white. Future studies should investigate the characteristics of patients and smartphones applications that will optimize information delivery through a mobile technology platform.
支持性护理是癌症患者治疗的重要组成部分，但未得到充分利用；患者对这些服务的信息了解不足是一个重要障碍。移动技术可能是传递信息的有用工具，但尚未描述癌症患者对使用移动技术以及使用它们了解支持性护理服务的兴趣。本研究评估了与癌症患者使用移动技术以及对通过智能手机应用程序获取支持性护理信息的兴趣相关的因素。
我们对一家城市学术医院和 11 家社区医院的癌症患者进行了横断面调查。患者自我报告了移动技术的使用情况和对智能手机应用程序提供支持性护理信息的兴趣。采用多变量逻辑分析来确定移动技术使用和智能手机兴趣的决定因素。
在 631 名参与者中，466 名（74%）报告经常使用移动设备，242 名（39%）表示有兴趣通过智能手机应用程序获取支持性护理信息。年龄在 45 岁以下的患者更有可能使用移动设备（调整后的优势比 [OR] 6.8，2.8-16.9 95%置信区间，P < 0.001），并且对通过智能手机应用程序传递信息感兴趣（OR 3.2，1.8-5.9 95%置信区间，P < 0.001）。与白人相比，非白人患者使用移动技术的情况相似，但对基于智能手机应用程序的信息更感兴趣（OR 3.4，2.1-5.5 95%置信区间，P < 0.001）。
许多患者对基于智能手机应用程序的支持性护理服务信息表示出兴趣，尤其是那些年轻和非白人的患者。未来的研究应调查患者和智能手机应用程序的特点，以通过移动技术平台优化信息传递。
