TY - JOUR
T1 - Electronic Patient-reported Outcomes During Breast Cancer Adjuvant Radiotherapy
AU - Takala, Laura
AU - Kuusinen, Tuuli-Elina
AU - Skyttä, Tanja
AU - Kellokumpu-Lehtinen, Pirkko-Liisa
AU - Bärlund, Maarit
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was financially supported by the Competitive State Research Financing of the Expert Responsibility Area of Tampere University Hospital, grant number 9 U020. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s)
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Introduction: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) have become extremely important in following patients’ health-related quality of life during cancer treatments. The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of electronic PROs (ePROs) during adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) in patients with early breast cancer. Materials and Methods: A registry trial was conducted with a total of 253 patients with breast cancer receiving RT. Adverse event data were collected from 9 items on the ePRO questionnaires that were administered before RT (N = 253), at the end of RT (± 3 days; N = 234), 1 month after RT (N = 230), and 3 months (N = 225) after RT. The patient characteristics and treatment details were collected from the medical records. Results: The patients have started actively using the ePRO system, and the response rates were high (82.6%). During RT, 39.3% of the ePRO responses were about symptoms, and 60.7% were about treatment-related questions or advice. Patients treated with hypofractionated RT reported fewer local adverse events such as skin symptoms (P = .001) and pain (P = .002) than those who received conventional RT. One of the main findings of this study was that tiredness, fatigue, and anxiety were commonly reported on the patients’ ePRO questionnaires, but they were rarely recorded in the medical records. Conclusion: Patients were motivated to use the ePRO system, and the response rates were high. Additionally, patients seemed to find that the ePRO system was an easy way to contact their own health care professionals. More attention should be paid to mental well-being during visits to the clinic. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) have become extremely important in following patients’ health-related quality of life during cancer treatments. The present study assessed electronic PROs during adjuvant radiotherapy in a real-world setting. The study was conducted with a total of 253 patients with early breast cancer. The patients have started actively using the ePRO system, and the response rates were high (82.6%).
AB - Introduction: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) have become extremely important in following patients’ health-related quality of life during cancer treatments. The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of electronic PROs (ePROs) during adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) in patients with early breast cancer. Materials and Methods: A registry trial was conducted with a total of 253 patients with breast cancer receiving RT. Adverse event data were collected from 9 items on the ePRO questionnaires that were administered before RT (N = 253), at the end of RT (± 3 days; N = 234), 1 month after RT (N = 230), and 3 months (N = 225) after RT. The patient characteristics and treatment details were collected from the medical records. Results: The patients have started actively using the ePRO system, and the response rates were high (82.6%). During RT, 39.3% of the ePRO responses were about symptoms, and 60.7% were about treatment-related questions or advice. Patients treated with hypofractionated RT reported fewer local adverse events such as skin symptoms (P = .001) and pain (P = .002) than those who received conventional RT. One of the main findings of this study was that tiredness, fatigue, and anxiety were commonly reported on the patients’ ePRO questionnaires, but they were rarely recorded in the medical records. Conclusion: Patients were motivated to use the ePRO system, and the response rates were high. Additionally, patients seemed to find that the ePRO system was an easy way to contact their own health care professionals. More attention should be paid to mental well-being during visits to the clinic. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) have become extremely important in following patients’ health-related quality of life during cancer treatments. The present study assessed electronic PROs during adjuvant radiotherapy in a real-world setting. The study was conducted with a total of 253 patients with early breast cancer. The patients have started actively using the ePRO system, and the response rates were high (82.6%).
KW - Breast cancer
KW - Patient-reported outcomes
KW - PROs
KW - Radiotherapy
KW - Real-world data
U2 - 10.1016/j.clbc.2020.10.004
DO - 10.1016/j.clbc.2020.10.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85096610321
SN - 1526-8209
VL - 21
SP - e252-e270
JO - CLINICAL BREAST CANCER
JF - CLINICAL BREAST CANCER
IS - 3
ER -
