Ala-Aldeen Kardo, Stones Nicola, Woolf David, Bayman Neil, Coote Joanna, Harris Margaret, Pemberton Laura, Sheikh Hamid, Chan Clara, Hodgson Clare, Yorke Janelle, Faivre-Finn Corinne
Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester, United Kingdom.
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Tech Innov Patient Support Radiat Oncol. 2018 Jun 5;7:11-16. doi: 10.1016/j.tipsro.2018.05.002. eCollection 2018 Sep.
Treatment related toxicity is common after chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Our group has developed and validated an electronic Patient Reported Outcome questionnaire (ePRO) to assess symptoms and toxicity in lung cancer patients receiving (chemo)radiotherapy treatment. We assessed the need for volunteer support in clinics to assist patients in completing ePROs.
Lung Cancer patients attending outpatient or radiotherapy clinics at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester were consented and asked to complete a Patient Reported Outcomes questionnaire using an electronic device (a touchscreen). Trained volunteers were available if patients required help such as verbal or physical assistance. The primary objective was to determine the need for volunteers to assist lung cancer patients in completing ePROs.
27/86 (31.4%) of patients who consented to this study required assistance to complete the ePRO. After questioning, we found that only 7/86 (8.1%) would have relied on volunteers for assistance as the majority of patients had a companion that could have provided help. 81/86 (94.2%) of patients were satisfied with the use of a touchscreen tablet to complete the ePRO.
Our results demonstrate that the introduction of ePROs in lung cancer outpatient clinics is feasible, even without the use of volunteers for the majority of patients. The implementation of ePROs would allow large volumes of high quality (chemo)radiotherapy toxicity data to be collected accurately and quickly. This is essential for the development of predictive models of outcome using population-based data, which could allow the personalisation of (chemo)radiotherapy treatment for lung cancer patients.
化疗和放疗后与治疗相关的毒性反应很常见。我们团队开发并验证了一份电子患者报告结局问卷（ePRO），以评估接受（化疗）放疗的肺癌患者的症状和毒性反应。我们评估了诊所中志愿者支持的必要性，以协助患者完成ePRO问卷。
在曼彻斯特的克里斯蒂国民保健服务基金会信托医院门诊或放疗诊所就诊的肺癌患者签署了知情同意书，并被要求使用电子设备（触摸屏）完成一份患者报告结局问卷。如果患者需要诸如口头或身体协助等帮助，会有经过培训的志愿者提供服务。主要目的是确定是否需要志愿者协助肺癌患者完成ePRO问卷。
同意参与本研究的86名患者中有27名（31.4%）需要协助来完成ePRO问卷。经过询问，我们发现只有86名中的7名（8.1%）会依赖志愿者的帮助，因为大多数患者有同伴可以提供帮助。86名患者中有81名（94.2%）对使用触摸屏平板电脑完成ePRO问卷感到满意。
我们的结果表明，在肺癌门诊诊所引入ePRO问卷是可行的，即使大多数患者无需志愿者协助。ePRO问卷的实施将能够准确、快速地收集大量高质量的（化疗）放疗毒性数据。这对于利用基于人群的数据开发结局预测模型至关重要，该模型可实现肺癌患者（化疗）放疗治疗的个性化。
