Objective The aim of this study is to (1) review the digital health tools that have been used in headache studies, and (2) discuss the effectivity and reliability of these tools. Background Many headache patients travel a long and troublesome journey from first symptoms until a meaningful care plan. eHealth, mHealth, and digital therapeutic modalities have been advocated as the way forward to improve patient care. Method Online databases PubMed, Cinahl, and PsycINFO were searched using a predefined search query. A data extraction form was used to gather relevant data elements from the selected papers. Results A total of 39 studies were selected. The studies included 94,127 participants. The majority of studies focused on diaries (N = 27 out of 39). Digital (cognitive) behavioral therapy were also quite common (N = 7 out of 39). Other digital health tool categories were tele-consultations, telemonitoring and patient portals. Conclusion Many digital health tools for headache patients regarding diaries and behavioral/therapeutical treatment are described in scientific research with limited information on effectivity and reliability. Scientific knowledge with regard to other categories such as tele-consultations, patient portals, telemonitoring including medication adherence, online information resources, wearable, symptom checkers, digital peer support is still scarce or missing.
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Purpose
Identifying potentially modifiable predictors of chronic (chemotherapy-induced) peripheral neuropathy (PN) is important, especially in light of the limited treatment options. We aimed to examine pre-treatment anxiety and depressive symptoms as predictors of chronic PN symptom severity in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients up to 2 years after diagnosis.
Methods
Newly diagnosed CRC patients from four Dutch hospitals were eligible for participation. Patients (N = 336) completed a questionnaire on anxiety and depressive symptoms (HADS) and sensory (SPN) and motor peripheral neuropathy (MPN) (EORTC QLQ-CIPN20) before initial treatment (baseline) and 1 and 2 years after diagnosis. Patients were included in the analyses if they either developed some level of SPN or MPN symptoms, or experienced a worsening of pre-treatment SPN or MPN symptoms.
Results
At 1-year follow-up, 115 patients (34%) reported SPN symptoms and 134 patients (40%) reported MPN symptoms. Of these patients, SPN and MPN symptoms had not returned to baseline level at 2-year follow-up in, respectively, 51% and 54% of patients. In multivariable regression analyses, neither pre-treatment anxiety symptoms nor pre-treatment depressive symptoms were associated with SPN or MPN symptom severity at 1-year follow-up. At 2-year follow-up, pre-treatment anxiety symptoms (β = 0.44, p = 0.01), but not depressive symptoms, were associated with SPN symptom severity.
Conclusions
Pre-treatment anxiety symptoms, but not depressive symptoms, were associated with SPN symptom severity 2 years after diagnosis. Future studies are needed that assess whether interventions targeted to reduce anxiety before and during treatment can reduce chronic PN severity or even prevent the persistence of PN.
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