Abstract
101 Background: Cancer patients face many supportive care needs. In crowded clinics with rising care complexity, clinicians struggle to assess and manage these needs. Duke Cancer Patient Support Program (DCPSP) services aim to bridge this gap, but many patients are unaware of these services. We hypothesized that a DCPSP mobile application (app) is a feasible approach to this problem. Methods: We developed an app to enhance DCPSP awareness and facilitate weekly symptom reporting (via the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale, ESAS). Based upon symptoms, the app presents information cards and recommendations for specific DCPSP services. We enrolled 50 patients with advanced cancer (2 arms; 25 app intervention, 25 control) and 10 caregivers to a 12-week pilot trial. The primary outcome was feasibility. Secondary measures assessed knowledge/engagement of DCPSP services, usability, satisfaction, quality of life (QoL), and activation. We interviewed a subset of participants about the experience. Results: Forty-five patients completed the study, exceeding our pre-determined feasibility threshold. Most patients were age 50-64; the most common cancers were breast (42%) and lung (18%). Knowledge/use of DCPSP services increased in both arms, with a larger trend in the intervention arm (2.5 vs 4.0 composite score increase). App patients (n=25) completed a median of 7 ESAS surveys for an overall response rate of 57%. The most commonly-reported moderate/severe symptoms were fatigue (40%), drowsiness (22%), and pain (20%), with 54% of surveys from 23 of 25 patients reporting at least one moderate/severe symptom. These patients averaged 20 app interactions versus 9 interactions for those without a moderate/severe symptom. Satisfaction scores were high, and qualitative feedback was positive. We found no differences in QoL or patient activation across study arms. Caregivers had significant improvement in awareness/use of services (median increase 4.5, p=0.01). Conclusions: The D-SCAN app is a feasible approach to augmenting supportive care awareness and navigation, with high satisfaction and usability scores. The trend towards enhanced awareness and engagement of DCPSP services in app utilizers warrants further testing. Clinical trial information: NCT03628794.
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