Electronic Reporting of Sympton by Cancer Patients Can Improve Quality of Life and Reduce Emergency Visits

People with metastatic cancer who Regularly Report Sympton via Home-Based Electronic Monitoring System Experienced Quality of Life, Clinical Outcomes and Well-Being, WELL AS WELL EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS THAN THHE WHO DIDN’T FILE REPORTS. Both groups Had similar Overall Survival Rates, According to University of North Carolina Lineberger Comparthensive Cancer Researchers and Their Colleagues.

The Results from the National Multicenter Study Appeared in Nature Medicine On Feb. 7.

“Doctors and Nurses Are often Unaware of Sympton and Side Effects That Can Worsen For Cancer Pats Between Visits, Leading to Complications and Unnecessary Suffering,” Said Lead Author Ethan Basch, MD, MSC, The Richard M. Goldberg Distinguishing Professor of Medicine and Chief of Medical Oncology at Unc School of Medicine and Director of the Cancer Outcomes Research Program at Unc Lineberger.

“The Patient-Reported Outcomes, Or Pro, System was developed to Enable Patients to Report Own Sympts and Side Effects and Our Study Show that Pro Keeps Care Teams informed so that they can intervene promptly to Help Patients.”

The Pro-Tect Randomized Clinical Trial was conducted in 52 Community Oncology Practices in 26 States to Assess the Real-World Impact of Electronic Pro Symptom Monitoring on Clinical Outcomes Compred to Usual Care.

The Study Enrolled 1,191 patients. To determine if symptom monitoring with the electronic pro System Improved Outcomes, Roughly Half (593) of the Patients Were Randomly Assigned to the Pro Arm and the Remaining (598) Were Assigned to the Usual Care/Control Arm. Patients in the Pro Arm Could Report Their SympToms Using a Web-Based Program or an Automated Telephone System.

The Median Age of Participants Was 63 Years, Close to 17% Never Used the Internet and About 26% of People Were Treated at Rural Practice Practice Locations.

Although there in the overall survival Difference Between People who use pro and thhose who did not, which was the Study’s primary outcome, There Were Nuerous-Quality-of-Life Benefits:

• A 6.1% REDUCTION IN EMERGENCY VISITS FOR PATIES WHO USED PRO COMPARED TO THOSE WHAT HAD Usual Care. There is also 16% Longer Time Before A First Emergency Visit with Pro Compred to Usual Care.
• People in the Pro Arm Experienced A Significant Delay in Deterioration of Physical Function (A Median of 12.6 vs. 8.5 Months), 31% Delay in Symptoms (12.7 vs. 9.9 Months), and A 28% Improvement in Health-Related Quality- OF-LIFE FACTORS (15.6 vs. 12.2 months) Compred to those who did not use pro, respectively.
• Most Patients Felt That Pro Improved Discussions with Care Team (77%), Made Them Feel More in Control of Their Care (84%), and Welld Recommend it to other Patients (91%).
• 91.5% of Patients Completed Scheduled Weekly Sympton Surveys.

“Electronic Medical Recordkeeping has Been a Bane For Some Physicians and Patients Who Find It Frustrating to Navigate Patal Portal Systems – Mytigating Those Frustrations Was The Central Consideration in Configure The Pro System In This Study,” Basch Said.

“Pro Largely Circumvents Physicians and is Managed by nurses and/or Patient Navigators, Jobs Often Sympton Management and Care Coordination. The Pro Systems have Also Proven Very for Use, in Terms of Technical Ability.”

The trial was designated to be generalizable across all cancer Types and Treatments. The Study Results, Based on the Diversity of the Dozens of Types of Cancers Represented in the Patient Population, Confermed this Generalizability.

Although these are the final results from the pro-tect study, the Investigators are planning sub-study Analyses Based on interviews with patients, nurses and doctors; Evaluation of Results Based on Various Patient Characteristics Such As Cancer Type, Race, and Geography; and various methodological Evaluations of the Pro Technology.

“While There have Been Some Studies Evaluating the Benefits of Pro for Patients with Earlier Stage Cancers Who Get Chemotherapy, Radiation Or Surgeries For Their Cancer, There Is Less Evidence of Bene Take an Interest in Estabishing more Studies to Provide Evidence of That Benefit, “Concluded Basch.