Mobile Health Application for Patients Undergoing Breast Cancer Surgery: Feasibility Study

Abstract

PURPOSE: Contemporary breast cancer surgery often requires hospital stays of 1 day or less, presenting challenges to delivery of high-quality care. Without sufficient time for proper education and guidance, patients may delay seeking care, experience anxiety, or seek unnecessary care, leading to poorer outcomes and increased costs. To address this, we evaluated the feasibility of a planning-, outcomes-, and analytics-based mobile health application called Manage My Surgery (MMS) for patients undergoing elective breast cancer surgery. METHODS: Patients undergoing breast cancer surgery at an academic health center were invited to use MMS. Those who used the application received pre- and postoperative surveys, which recorded and reported patient satisfaction and outcomes related to the application. RESULTS: Thirty-three female patients undergoing elective breast cancer surgery used MMS. The median age was 58 years. Nineteen patients underwent lumpectomy, and 14 underwent mastectomy. Users logged on to the application an average of 3.5 times. The median number of questions viewed was 12 (range 2-35). Of 17 patients who completed the feedback survey, 100% said that MMS was helpful during preparation for surgery, 82.3% said that MMS was helpful postoperatively, and 94.1% would recommend MMS to others. Preliminary data on patient-reported outcomes collected by MMS suggest improvements in anxiety and depression over time. CONCLUSION: Implementation of a digital care navigation tool in breast cancer surgery patients is feasible. Patients found the tool helpful in both the pre- and postoperative period. Additional ongoing work will focus on patients' self-management skills, long-term outcomes, and health system costs.

Pilot implementation to assess the feasibility and care team impact of an app-based interactive care plan to remotely monitor breast cancer survivors

“…Our 6-month average ePRO and BC recurrence assessment completion rates of 59% (range 48-78%), as well as the QOL questionnaire completion rate of 62% (range 35-91%), reflect the observed gradual decrease in response rate over time. Our response rates were higher than those of similar feasibility engagement study of a mobile health application intended for perioperative education of BC patients (reporting a 97% PROMIS response rate preoperatively, 24% postoperatively, and 15% at 3 months) [19] and similar to the monthly ePRO response rate in a large-scale implementation study involving cancer patients receiving active treatment at Mayo Clinic (personal communication, data not yet published) [28]. There is ample evidence that participation drops off quickly after enrolment in studies evaluating digital health solutions, which may be due to the time commitment involved, suboptimal user interfaces, loss of the novelty factor over time, and perceived lack of the effectiveness of the intervention for the needs of the participants [29], [30].…”

“…Telehealth and remote monitoring solutions may support symptom management and address some of the unmet needs of cancer survivors [17], [19], [20] . Our study team engaged patients and multidisciplinary members of the care team to develop a novel ICP to improve upon static survivorship care plans.…”

“…The few cancer-related studies have involved electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) for monitoring of systemic therapy-related side effects [15,16] and cancer progression in those with advanced disease [17,18]. Cancer patient engagement with telehealth solutions has been demonstrated in a feasibility study evaluating utilization and PRO capture by a mobile application of perioperative education and support for breast cancer surgery [19] and a randomized controlled trial of a telerehabilitation tool for patients with advanced cancers [20]. However, there is a need to study the feasibility of telehealth and virtual care tools to address the complex needs of cancer survivors, including management of treatment-related toxicities, surveillance of QOL and symptoms associated with recurrence, and promotion of wellness and healthy life habits.…”

Outcomes With a Mobile Digital Health Platform for Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery: Retrospective Analysis

“…Previously, our team proved the feasibility of ManageMySurgery (MMS), a perioperative mobile app, in educating patients across various interventional and surgical paths and in gathering patient-reported outcomes for spine and breast procedures [ 21 , 22 ]. MMS enables patients to access instructional content tailored to their procedure, receive notifications and reminders along standardized care pathways and from their provider teams, and complete pre- and postoperative questionnaires to inform and monitor their clinical team.…”

Mobile Applications Available in Germany Supporting Breast Cancer Patients During Treatment and Aftercare: a Systematic Review

“…Some studies have shown that health apps can cost-effectively meet hitherto unmet needs of cancer patients and provide symptom-oriented support and remote monitoring 66 2626 2727 .…”