Research has shown that if patients keep track of their symptoms themselves, the right care can be deployed more quickly. Dr. Annemarie Becker is the lead researcher for a project entitled the SYMPRO-Lung study, which will investigate if the use on an online symptom-monitoring app can improve outcome for lung cancer patients. The app is designed to help lung cancer patients track symptoms and side effects, including fatigue, pain and mood over time. A scoring algorithm assesses the severity of the symptoms. If symptoms exceed a predefined threshold, an alert is sent by e-mail to the health care practitioner (active intervention), or to the patient (reactive intervention) to ensure that clinically relevant symptoms are assessed and acted upon in a timely manner.
The primary aim of the study is to compare the effect of online symptom-monitoring with standard care on health-related quality of life both during (at 15 weeks and 6 months) and up to 1 year after the start of treatment. Secondary aims are investigating the effect of the app compared to usual care on incidence and grade of symptoms, progression free and overall survival, medication adherence and cost effectiveness.
If successful, the SYMPRO application can be expanded as a dynamic questionnaire that adapts to the patient’s journey, with built-in advice to manage symptoms, not only for lung cancer patients, but also for other cancer patients. The app can also be used to monitor symptoms and quality of life during clinical trials, and even collect data on adverse drugs reactions for organizations such as Lareb.
For more information, see the project homepage: http://www.sympro.nl
Nicole E. Billingy*
Vashti, N.M.F. Tromp*
Rianne Hoek*
Harm-Jan Bogaard*
Bregje D. Onwuteaka-Philipsen*
Jacqueline G. Hugtenburg*
Annemarie Becker-Commissaris*
Iris Walraven
Corina van de Hurk
*Are affiliated with Amsterdam UMC
The research is funded by Zorg Innovatiefonds, Roche and Stichting Kwaliteitsgelden Medisch Specialisten (SKMS).