Abstract
BackgroundEvery case of breast cancer is unique, and treatment must be personalized to incorporate a woman’s values and preferences. We developed an individually-tailored mobile patient education application for women with breast cancer.MethodsPre-post surveys were completed by 255 women who used the tool.ResultsPatients thought the application included helpful information (N = 184, 72%) and was easy to navigate (N = 156, 61%). Most patients thought the amount of information in the tool was “about right” (N = 193, 87%). Decision making confidence increased by an average of 0.8 points (10-point scale) following a consultation and use of the tool (p < 0.001).ConclusionsTailored mobile applications may optimize care by facilitating shared decision making and knowledge transfer, and they may also enhance the experience of patients as they navigate through their breast cancer journey.
Highlights
Every case of breast cancer is unique, and treatment must be personalized to incorporate a woman’s values and preferences
Consistent with the interdisciplinary treatment approach at Mayo Clinic, we developed a comprehensive, interactive, personalized educational tool delivered on a mobile device to assist our Breast Clinic patients with treatment decision making and to empower them to engage in shared decision making
After excluding 23 patients (100% female; median age 61 years, range 33–77) who requested their medical records not be used for research purposes, we identified 447 patients who completed the post-intervention survey and 290 patients who completed both the pre-intervention and post-intervention survey
Summary
Every case of breast cancer is unique, and treatment must be personalized to incorporate a woman’s values and preferences. Treatment of breast cancer is personalized and requires incorporation of a woman’s values and preferences as well as individual characteristics about her specific cancer diagnosis. Surgical decisions for early stage breast cancer tend to be heavily based on each patient’s personal values and preferences. These include the decision of mastectomy vs lumpectomy, whether to pursue contralateral prophylactic mastectomy, and whether to pursue reconstructive surgery. These decisions require women to weigh the risks and benefits, recovery time and shortand long-term effects associated with the different surgical options. The use of adjuvant therapies may depend on the biology of a woman’s breast cancer, such as hormone receptor or HER2 status and staging [2]
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