The Ability of Electronic Patient Symptom Reporting to Reduce Symptom Burden During Hospitalization for Chemotherapy

Evaluating the Ability of Electronic Patient Symptom Reporting to Reduce Symptom Burden During Hospitalization for Intensive Chemotherapy

The purpose of this randomized trial will evaluate whether providing clinicians with daily reports from a well-validated, standardized, patient-centered electronic symptom survey tool (PRO-CTCAE) improves symptom burden in patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy. Adult inpatients at UNC undergoing high-dose chemotherapy for preparative chemotherapy prior to stem cell infusion. Participants will be randomized into one of two arms: (1) a control arm with standard of care daily clinician interviews or (2) standard of care plus daily electronic symptom surveys, the results of which will be sent to clinicians electronically.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Stem Cell Transplantation, Hematopoietic
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Electronic symptom survey; Other: Blinded Electronic Symptom Survey

Detailed Description

The primary objective of the study is to compare peak symptom burden between the two study arms (autologous transplant vs. allogeneic transplant). Peak symptom burden will also be compared between the two study arms within both subgroups of patients (myeloablative vs. reduced intensity conditioning). Secondary outcomes that will also be compared between the two arms include: changes in patient-reported quality of life, time to supportive care treatment changes, length of hospital stay, thirty day readmission rate after discharge, days alive and out of the hospital in the 100 days since admission, and overall survival. Additionally, measures of physical activity will be captured through physiological monitoring in order to explore associations with patient-reported symptom measures. Patient and clinician satisfaction will also be evaluated.

In this study, the investigators will use an electronic survey to assess 16 patient-reported symptoms to calculate a symptom score that may range from 0-61 each day. This symptom score represents the symptom burden for the patient on that particular day. Symptom burden is anticipated to peak between days 7 and 14, so the investigators will define peak symptom burden as the average of the symptom scores on days 7, 10 and 14. In both arms, symptoms will be assessed on these days in order to compare peak burden.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 76
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • North Carolina
    • Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27514
      • Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Verification of access to a functioning email account
• >= 18 years of age
• <= 75 years of age
• Able to read in English
• Assessed as competent based on discretion of study personnel
• Willing and able to provide signed, informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Concurrent participation in LCCC1234

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Electronic Symptom Survey; Patients randomized to the intervention arm will fill out the daily PRO-CTCAE electronic symptom survey. The intervention consists of sending the results of the surveys in the intervention arm to the clinical care team. The four symptom-specific PROMIS subsets (Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, and Sleep Disturbance) will be filled out weekly while patients are admitted to the hospital. Patients will again complete the 6 minute walk distance testing, HRQoL surveys, and PASS assessment at the time of discharge. Patients in the intervention arm will complete a satisfaction survey at discharge. HRQoL (by mail) and PASS (by telephone) will be assessed for a third time 30 days after discharge.	Other: Electronic symptom survey; Standard of care plus daily electronic symptom surveys, the results of which are sent to clinicians electronically.; Other Names: Online Daily Symptom Survey
Active Comparator: Blinded Electronic Symptom Survey; Patients in the control arm will only fill out the symptom survey at the time of admission and days 7, 10, and 14. The results of symptom surveys from the patients in the control arm will not be sent to providers, but will be used for data analysis purposes only. The four symptom-specific PROMIS subsets (Anxiety, Depression, Fatigue, and Sleep Disturbance) will be filled out weekly while patients are admitted to the hospital. Patients will again complete the 6 minute walk distance testing, HRQoL surveys, and PASS assessment at the time of discharge. HRQoL (by mail) and PASS (by telephone) will be assessed for a third time 30 days after discharge.	Other: Blinded Electronic Symptom Survey; Standard of care daily clinician interviews with blinded symptom surveys

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Average peak symptom burden in the intervention group versus the control group	Peak symptom burden is defined as the average symptom score on chemotherapy days+7, +10, and +14 (relative to transplant day 0) as measured by the PRO-CTCAE. There are 16 items on the PRO-CTCAE questionnaire. Fifteen items are worth 0-4 points each and one item is worth 0-1 point. This translates to a symptom score range of 0-61 per day, which will be averaged over the three days. The outcome is the comparison of average peak symptom burden scores between the two groups.	Measured by comparing the average PRO-CTCAE scores from Day+7, Day+10, and Day+14 in the intervention compared to the control group

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Ashley L Bryant, PHD, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Bryant AL, Coffman E, Phillips B, Tan X, Bullard E, Hirschey R, Bradley J, Bennett AV, Stover AM, Song L, Shea TC, Wood WA. Pilot randomized trial of an electronic symptom monitoring and reporting intervention for hospitalized adults undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Support Care Cancer. 2020 Mar;28(3):1223-1231. doi: 10.1007/s00520-019-04932-9. Epub 2019 Jun 20.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: July 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 30, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): September 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 20, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 9, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): October 14, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 22, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 21, 2018
• Last Verified: March 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: LCCC 1404

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO