Effect of Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) on symptom data collection in a radiation oncology department.

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83 Background: ESAS has been used to examine quality of life and symptom burden of patients undergoing cancer treatment. The purpose of this study is to examine attitudes towards ESAS among patients in a Radiation Oncology clinic in conjunction with the perspective of cancer care professionals, to establish ideal implementation of this tool to improve patient care. Methods: Routine use of ESAS in a single Radiation Oncology Department was initiated in July 2015. Six months after implementation, an anonymous, electronic survey was administered to 50 healthcare providers within this department, including attending physicians, resident physicians, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, and registered nurses. The survey collected information regarding the value of ESAS with regards to patient care, the numerical value at which an intervention is made, which clinical interventions had been implemented due to patient-reported scores on ESAS, which patient populations benefit from ESAS administration, and how frequently ESAS should be administered. Closed and open questions were included. Results: Out of 50 providers, 36 completed the survey. Of these, 31 reported finding ESAS useful. The most common intervention was questioning the patient further about symptoms (29/36.) ESAS data are being reviewed by clinical teams and stored as part of the patient’s medical record in order to compile longitudinal data. An anonymous paper survey is currently being administered to 50 patients at the end of their radiation treatment or at their first follow-up. The survey will collect information about how well symptoms are being communicated with the clinical team, if symptoms should be added to ESAS, how often ESAS should be administered, which specific clinical interventions were provided due to ESAS, and if ESAS improved the overall patient experience. Conclusions: Our survey from the clinical team supports that ESAS is a useful modality to assess patient symptoms and to improve management for patient symptoms effectively. Our ongoing patient survey will validate these findings. These two surveys will be used to improve systematic collection of symptom data for radiation oncology patients.