AI-Personalized Discharge Education for Patients After Lung Cancer Surgery (AI-LUNG)

September 14, 2026 updated by: Xi Huang, Xiamen University

Effect of AI-Personalized Discharge Education on the Quality of Discharge Teaching and Recovery Outcomes in Patients After Lung Cancer Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized controlled trial evaluates the effect of artificial intelligence (AI)-personalized discharge education on discharge teaching quality and recovery outcomes in patients after lung cancer surgery. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either an intervention group or a control group. The control group will receive routine discharge education, including verbal instructions and a standardized printed discharge booklet. The intervention group will receive the same routine education plus an AI-generated personalized discharge guidance plan based on individual clinical and care-related information. All AI-generated content will be reviewed by a responsible nurse before being provided to participants. The primary outcome is the quality of discharge teaching measured on the day of discharge. Secondary outcomes include self-efficacy for postoperative rehabilitation management and quality of life assessed one month after discharge.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is a single-center, prospective, single-blind randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate whether AI-personalized discharge education can improve discharge teaching quality and postoperative recovery outcomes among patients undergoing surgery for lung cancer. A total of 156 eligible participants will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to an intervention group or a control group.

Participants in the control group will receive routine discharge care, including verbal education provided by nursing staff and a standardized printed discharge education booklet covering medication use, wound care, respiratory exercises, physical activity, diet, follow-up, and other routine postoperative care.

Participants in the intervention group will receive routine discharge care plus AI-personalized discharge education. Within 24 hours before discharge, relevant patient information will be entered into a structured system, including surgical approach, extent of lung resection, pain score, dyspnea score, comorbidities, discharge medications, home care conditions, educational level, smoking history, and postoperative complications. A large language model will then generate an individualized discharge guidance document. The guidance will include medication instructions, respiratory rehabilitation exercises, wound and activity management, follow-up planning, and warning signs requiring medical attention. All AI-generated content will be reviewed and approved by a responsible nurse before being delivered to the participant or caregiver.

The primary outcome is discharge teaching quality, assessed using the Quality of Discharge Teaching Scale (QDTS) on the day of discharge after the intervention. Secondary outcomes include self-efficacy for postoperative rehabilitation management, assessed using the SESPRM-LC scale, and quality of life, assessed using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung (FACT-L) scale, both measured one month after discharge.

The study will also explore the relationships among discharge teaching quality, self-efficacy, and quality of life, including the potential mediating role of self-efficacy.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

156

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Weiguang Zhou, Master's
  • Phone Number: +86 13624449503
  • Email: 254402969@qq.com

Study Locations

  • China
    • Jilin
      • Siping, Jilin, China, 136000
        • Recruiting
        • Siping Central People's Hospital
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Yang Liu, PhD
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Pathologically confirmed primary lung cancer and underwent radical lung cancer surgery by thoracoscopic or open approach, including lobectomy, pneumonectomy, or wedge resection.
  2. Age 18 to 80 years.
  3. Clinical stage I to III.
  4. No distant organ metastasis.
  5. Clinically stable after surgery, conscious, and able to perform basic listening, speaking, and reading activities, with planned discharge to home for recovery.
  6. The participant or primary caregiver is able to use a smartphone and WeChat.
  7. Able and willing to provide informed consent and voluntarily participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Recurrent lung cancer or previous treatment with targeted therapy, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy.
  2. Severe aphasia, cognitive impairment (MMSE <24), or psychiatric disorders that prevent independent completion of study questionnaires.
  3. Severe cardiac, hepatic, or renal dysfunction, or another malignant tumor.
  4. Severe postoperative complications requiring prolonged hospitalization, such as bronchopleural fistula or major bleeding.
  5. Participation in another interventional clinical study.
  6. Unable to complete the 1-month follow-up because of travel or residence outside the study area after discharge.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: AI-Personalized Discharge Education
Participants receive routine discharge education plus AI-personalized discharge guidance. The personalized guidance is generated based on individual clinical and care-related information and is reviewed by a responsible nurse before being provided to the participant or caregiver.
Behavioral: AI-Personalized Discharge Education
Participants receive an individualized discharge guidance plan generated by an artificial intelligence system based on clinical and care-related information, including surgical approach, extent of lung resection, pain and dyspnea scores, comorbidities, discharge medications, home care conditions, educational level, smoking history, and postoperative complications. The guidance includes medication instructions, respiratory exercises, wound and activity management, follow-up planning, and warning signs requiring medical attention. All AI-generated content is reviewed by a responsible nurse before being provided to the participant or caregiver.
Behavioral: Routine Discharge Education
Participants receive routine discharge education provided by nursing staff, including verbal instructions and a standardized printed discharge booklet covering medication use, wound care, respiratory exercises, physical activity, diet, follow-up, and other routine postoperative care.
Active Comparator: Routine Discharge Education
Participants receive routine discharge education, including verbal instructions from nursing staff and a standardized printed discharge education booklet covering medication use, wound care, respiratory exercises, physical activity, diet, follow-up, and related postoperative care.
Behavioral: Routine Discharge Education
Participants receive routine discharge education provided by nursing staff, including verbal instructions and a standardized printed discharge booklet covering medication use, wound care, respiratory exercises, physical activity, diet, follow-up, and other routine postoperative care.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Quality of Discharge Teaching Scale (QDTS) Total Score
Time Frame: On the day of discharge, immediately after the intervention
Discharge teaching quality will be assessed using the Quality of Discharge Teaching Scale (QDTS). The QDTS contains 24 items scored from 0 to 10, with a total score ranging from 0 to 240. Higher scores indicate better quality of discharge teaching.
On the day of discharge, immediately after the intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Self-Efficacy for Postoperative Rehabilitation Management (SESPRM-LC) Total Score
Time Frame: 1 month after discharge
Self-efficacy for postoperative rehabilitation management will be assessed using the SESPRM-LC scale. The scale contains 27 items scored from 1 to 5, with a total score ranging from 27 to 135. Higher scores indicate greater self-efficacy.
1 month after discharge
Quality of Life Measured by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung (FACT-L)
Time Frame: 1 month after discharge
Quality of life will be assessed using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung (FACT-L). Higher scores indicate better quality of life.
1 month after discharge

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Xiamen University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Yang Liu, PhD, Xiamen University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

August 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 15, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

November 15, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 14, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 14, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

September 18, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 18, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 14, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • AI-LUNG-RCT-2026-01
  • SKJT2026-003 (Other Identifier: Ethics Committee of Siping Central People's Hospital)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data are not planned to be shared.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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