Peltola Maria Kristiina, Poikonen-Saksela Paula, Mattson Johanna, Parkkari Timo
Department of Oncology, Helsinki University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland.
Clinius ltd, Helsinki, Finland.
JMIR Form Res. 2021 May 6;5(5):e16156. doi: 10.2196/16156.
As the incidence of cancer is on the rise, there is a need to develop modern communication tools between patients and the medical personnel. Electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) measures increase the safety of cancer treatments and may have an impact on treatment outcome as well. ePRO may also provide a cost-efficient way to organize follow-up for patients with cancer. Noona is an internet-based system for patients to self-report symptoms and adverse events of cancer treatments from home via a computer or a smart device (eg, smartphone, tablet).
In this pilot study, we assessed the suitability of a novel ePRO application (Noona) for patients with cancer, nurses, and doctors at the Helsinki University Hospital, Finland.
The study included 44 patients with cancer (different solid tumor types) and 17 health care professionals (nurses or medical doctors). Patients were either operated or received systemic treatment or radiotherapy. Patients reported their symptoms to the medical staff via Noona. In addition, patients and clinicians answered a questionnaire, based on which Noona's suitability for clinical use was evaluated in terms of usability (ease of use, operability, and learnability), reliability (subjective opinion of the participant), and incidence of harmful events reported by the participants.
A total of 41/44 (93%) patients and 15/17 (88%) professionals reported that the program was easy or quite easy to use; 38/44 (86%) patients and 11/17 (65%) professionals found Noona reliable, and 38/44 (86%) patients and 10/17 (59%) professionals would recommend Noona to other patients or their colleagues. No harmful incidences caused by the use of Noona were reported by the patients; however, 1 harmful incidence was reported by one of the professionals.
The majority of the participants felt that Noona appeared reliable and it was easy to use. Noona seems to be a useful tool for monitoring patient's symptoms during cancer therapy. Future studies will determine the impact of this ePRO platform in routine clinical practice.
随着癌症发病率的上升，需要开发患者与医务人员之间的现代沟通工具。电子患者报告结局（ePRO）措施可提高癌症治疗的安全性，也可能对治疗结果产生影响。ePRO还可能为组织癌症患者的随访提供一种经济高效的方式。Noona是一个基于互联网的系统，患者可通过计算机或智能设备（如智能手机、平板电脑）在家中自我报告癌症治疗的症状和不良事件。
在这项试点研究中，我们评估了一种新型ePRO应用程序（Noona）对芬兰赫尔辛基大学医院的癌症患者、护士和医生的适用性。
该研究纳入了44例癌症患者（不同实体瘤类型）和17名医护人员（护士或医生）。患者接受了手术、全身治疗或放疗。患者通过Noona向医务人员报告他们的症状。此外，患者和临床医生回答了一份问卷，据此从可用性（易用性、可操作性和易学性）、可靠性（参与者的主观意见）以及参与者报告的有害事件发生率方面评估Noona在临床使用中的适用性。
共有41/44（93%）的患者和15/17（88%）的专业人员报告该程序易于或相当易于使用；38/44（86%）的患者和11/17（65%）的专业人员认为Noona可靠，38/44（86%）的患者和10/17（59%）的专业人员会向其他患者或同事推荐Noona。患者未报告因使用Noona导致的有害事件；然而，一名专业人员报告了1起有害事件。
大多数参与者认为Noona似乎可靠且易于使用。Noona似乎是癌症治疗期间监测患者症状的有用工具。未来的研究将确定这个ePRO平台在常规临床实践中的影响。
