Mobile Technology-Based (mLearning) Intervention to Enhance Breast Cancer Clinicians' Communication About Sexual Health: A Pilot Trial

Abstract

Background: Most breast cancer clinicians lack training to counsel patients about sexual concerns. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of a mobile learning (mLearning) intervention (improving Sexual Health and Augmenting Relationships through Education [iSHARE]) aimed at enhancing breast cancer clinicians’ knowledge of, beliefs about, and comfort with discussing patients’ sexual health concerns. Methods: Clinicians listened to a 2-part educational podcast series offering information on breast cancer–related sexual health concerns and effective communication on the topic, which consisted of interviews with expert guests. Intervention feasibility was assessed through rates of enrollment, retention, and intervention completion, with benchmarks of 40%, 70%, and 60%, respectively. Acceptability was assessed through program evaluations, with 75% of clinicians rating the intervention favorably (eg, relevance, satisfaction) signifying acceptability. Clinicians self-reported their knowledge about breast cancer–related sexual health concerns, beliefs (ie, self-efficacy for discussing sexual health concerns), and comfort with discussing sexual concerns measured at preintervention and postintervention. Qualitative analysis examined clinicians’ perceptions of lessons learned from the intervention. Results: A total of 32 breast cancer clinicians enrolled (46% of those invited; 97% of those who responded and screened eligible), 30 (94%) completed both the intervention and study surveys, and 80% rated the intervention favorably, demonstrating feasibility and acceptability. Results showed positive trends for improvement in clinician knowledge, beliefs, and comfort with discussing sexual health concerns. Clinicians reported key lessons learned, including taking a proactive approach to discussing sexual health concerns, normalizing the topic, addressing vaginal health, sending the message that help is available, and assessing sexual health concerns with patients from different backgrounds. Conclusions: Breast cancer clinicians were amenable to participating in the iSHARE intervention and found it useful. iSHARE showed promise for improving clinician’s knowledge and comfort discussing patients’ sexual health concerns. A larger trial is required to demonstrate efficacy. Future studies should also examine whether iSHARE can improve patient–clinician communication and address patients’ sexual concerns.

Critical Retrospection of Performance of Emerging Mobile Technologies in Health Data Management

“…This application also provides educational material related to breast cancer. The pilot test of this app certainly faces challenges such as scalability and availability of limited studies, which can be tamed in the near future [ 15 ].…”

No One-Size-Fits-All: Sexual Health Education Preferences in Patients with Breast Cancer

“…Reese et al, for instance, developed a podcastbased learning intervention aimed at enhancing breast cancer clinicians' knowledge and comfort in discussing patients' sexual health concerns and found that it was overall viewed positively and assisted clinicians in normalizing the topic and taking a proactive approach to discussing sexual health. [18][19][20] A newly implemented sexual health program at a Canadian cancer center also proved useful to healthcare providers and was deemed valuable in addressing gaps in care. 21 Evaluating the patient perspective, Tracy et al introduced a nurse-led sexual health clinic and found that patients experienced improvements in sexual well-being after participation.…”

Investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer clinicians’ communication about sexual health

“…This study consists of an analysis of cross-sectional survey data obtained from a pilot study of a mobile technology-based intervention aimed at enhancing breast cancer clinicians’ knowledge, beliefs, and comfort with discussing sexual health concerns [ 16 ]. The study was approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board (#18–1068) and registered on clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04262219).…”

“…The sample size for the pilot study was selected because it facilitated meeting the objectives of the study, which were to test the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of the sexual health communication intervention described in the previous paragraph. Further details of the sample and recruitment to the pilot study have been described elsewhere [ 16 ].…”

“…This study’s objective was to assess perspectives on how the pandemic has affected clinical communication about sexual heath through analyzing survey data from clinicians participating in a pilot trial of a breast cancer clinician sexual health communication intervention [ 16 ]. First, we examined the extent of change in the clinical practice (i.e., current and first time use of telehealth for clinic encounters, mode of delivery of telehealth visits [phone vs. video], and change in clinic volume, length of encounters, or availability of support staff).…”