Abstract
BackgroundSupportive 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.MethodsWe 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.ResultsAmong 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).ConclusionMany 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.
Highlights
There are more than 15.5 million cancer survivors in the United States and this number is expected to rise to 20.3 million by 2026.1 Optimal care for this population goes beyond cancer treatment to include supportive care services to address common symptoms such as pain,[2] fatigue,[3] insomnia[4,5], and depressive symptoms.[6]
Patients with at least some college education (79.6% vs 60.8% with high school education or less, P < 0.001), women (76.4% vs 69.0% of men, P = 0.045), and patients seen at an academic hospital (78.9% vs 69.1% of those treated at community hospitals, P = 0.005) were more likely to report regular use of mobile technologies
While overall mobile technology use is similar to that reported for the general population,[15] variations in interest and reported use among patients have implications for the design of mobile technology approaches to information delivery regarding supportive care
Summary
Support for this research was provided by National Cancer Institute grants to the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center (2P30CA016520-40) and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (3P30CA008748-50), the Byrne Fund, the Translational and Integrative Medicine Research Fund at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the NIH/NCATS Grant KL2TR002385
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