Development and pilot study of “Smart Cancer Care”: a platform for managing side effects of chemotherapy

Abstract Background As outpatient chemotherapy treatment increases, cancer patients receiving chemotherapy spend more time at home. In addition, since the types of chemotherapy are gradually expanding, it will be essential to prepare patient self-management strategies for various chemotherapy-relate...

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Main Authors: Cheolkyung Sin, Hyeyeong Kim, Hyeon-Su Im, Minsu Ock, Su-Jin Koh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2023-08-01
Series:BMC Health Services Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09871-0
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author Cheolkyung Sin
Hyeyeong Kim
Hyeon-Su Im
Minsu Ock
Su-Jin Koh
author_facet Cheolkyung Sin
Hyeyeong Kim
Hyeon-Su Im
Minsu Ock
Su-Jin Koh
author_sort Cheolkyung Sin
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background As outpatient chemotherapy treatment increases, cancer patients receiving chemotherapy spend more time at home. In addition, since the types of chemotherapy are gradually expanding, it will be essential to prepare patient self-management strategies for various chemotherapy-related side effects. This study aimed to develop a platform (called Smart Cancer Care) to implement a chemotherapy side effect management program and to evaluate its feasibility. Methods Smart Cancer Care comprises an application for patients and a dashboard for medical staff. Thirty-two symptoms to be managed using Smart Cancer Care were summarized through a literature review and Delphi. Management guidelines were developed based on the severity of each symptom (3 stages), and installed in Smart Cancer Care according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0 guidelines. To evaluate the feasibility of the developed application and medical dashboard, cancer patients and cancer treatment medical staff used Smart Cancer Care for 2 to 3 weeks and subsequently reported the experience of using them. Results The patient application provided a list of symptoms according to the cancer type and anticancer drug enabling presence and severity of each symptom to be evaluated. Patients received management guidelines for symptoms based on the symptom evaluation results. On the medical staff dashboard, administrators and authorized medical personnel could access and assess information regarding side effects and symptom severity submitted by the patient. The feasibility and usefulness of Smart Cancer Care were confirmed through a pilot test targeting 30 patients and 24 chemotherapy-related medical staff. For patients, the evaluation score for the “The program will be helpful when seeing medical staff” item was the highest. For medical staff, the score for the “By checking the patient’s symptoms using the program, it helps to take appropriate measures for the patient” item was the highest. Although minor corrections were raised, most patients and medical staff expected that Smart Cancer Care would help their treatment. Conclusions The configuration of the application and dashboard of Smart Cancer Care detailed in this study could be used for the development of a widely accepted platform to implement a chemotherapy side effect management program.
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spelling doaj.art-2ee5d2d6730d4a2c999ed34f82ebc8642023-11-26T12:43:38ZengBMCBMC Health Services Research1472-69632023-08-0123111010.1186/s12913-023-09871-0Development and pilot study of “Smart Cancer Care”: a platform for managing side effects of chemotherapyCheolkyung Sin0Hyeyeong Kim1Hyeon-Su Im2Minsu Ock3Su-Jin Koh4Department of Hematology and Oncology, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of MedicineDepartment of Hematology and Oncology, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of MedicineDepartment of Hematology and Oncology, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of MedicineDepartment of Preventive Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of MedicineDepartment of Hematology and Oncology, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of MedicineAbstract Background As outpatient chemotherapy treatment increases, cancer patients receiving chemotherapy spend more time at home. In addition, since the types of chemotherapy are gradually expanding, it will be essential to prepare patient self-management strategies for various chemotherapy-related side effects. This study aimed to develop a platform (called Smart Cancer Care) to implement a chemotherapy side effect management program and to evaluate its feasibility. Methods Smart Cancer Care comprises an application for patients and a dashboard for medical staff. Thirty-two symptoms to be managed using Smart Cancer Care were summarized through a literature review and Delphi. Management guidelines were developed based on the severity of each symptom (3 stages), and installed in Smart Cancer Care according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0 guidelines. To evaluate the feasibility of the developed application and medical dashboard, cancer patients and cancer treatment medical staff used Smart Cancer Care for 2 to 3 weeks and subsequently reported the experience of using them. Results The patient application provided a list of symptoms according to the cancer type and anticancer drug enabling presence and severity of each symptom to be evaluated. Patients received management guidelines for symptoms based on the symptom evaluation results. On the medical staff dashboard, administrators and authorized medical personnel could access and assess information regarding side effects and symptom severity submitted by the patient. The feasibility and usefulness of Smart Cancer Care were confirmed through a pilot test targeting 30 patients and 24 chemotherapy-related medical staff. For patients, the evaluation score for the “The program will be helpful when seeing medical staff” item was the highest. For medical staff, the score for the “By checking the patient’s symptoms using the program, it helps to take appropriate measures for the patient” item was the highest. Although minor corrections were raised, most patients and medical staff expected that Smart Cancer Care would help their treatment. Conclusions The configuration of the application and dashboard of Smart Cancer Care detailed in this study could be used for the development of a widely accepted platform to implement a chemotherapy side effect management program.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09871-0Drug therapyMobile ApplicationsNeoplasmsDrug-related side Effects and adverse reactions
spellingShingle Cheolkyung Sin
Hyeyeong Kim
Hyeon-Su Im
Minsu Ock
Su-Jin Koh
Development and pilot study of “Smart Cancer Care”: a platform for managing side effects of chemotherapy
BMC Health Services Research
Drug therapy
Mobile Applications
Neoplasms
Drug-related side Effects and adverse reactions
title Development and pilot study of “Smart Cancer Care”: a platform for managing side effects of chemotherapy
title_full Development and pilot study of “Smart Cancer Care”: a platform for managing side effects of chemotherapy
title_fullStr Development and pilot study of “Smart Cancer Care”: a platform for managing side effects of chemotherapy
title_full_unstemmed Development and pilot study of “Smart Cancer Care”: a platform for managing side effects of chemotherapy
title_short Development and pilot study of “Smart Cancer Care”: a platform for managing side effects of chemotherapy
title_sort development and pilot study of smart cancer care a platform for managing side effects of chemotherapy
topic Drug therapy
Mobile Applications
Neoplasms
Drug-related side Effects and adverse reactions
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09871-0
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