Feasibility and acceptance of electronic monitoring of symptoms and syndromes using a handheld computer in patients with advanced cancer in daily oncology practice

Reliability of the Two-dimensional Mood Scale for self-reported mood assessment by older adults with dementia

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability of the Two-dimensional Mood Scale (TDMS) for mood assessment among older adults with dementia. The study included 100 elderly patients with dementia admitted to two hospitals. For each mood state measured by the TDMS, the intraclass correlation coefficient of agreement (ICCagreement) was calculated to evaluate test-retest reliability. Scores corresponding to the minimal detectable change (MDC) in each mood state at the individual level (MDCind) was also calculated to evaluate measurement error, while McDonald's omega was calculated to evaluate internal consistency. The TDMS ICC was 0.54 for vitality, 0.74 for stability, 0.70 for pleasure, and 0.55 for arousal. The MDCind was 6.89 for vitality, 5.88 for stability, 9.96 for pleasure, and 4.11 for arousal. McDonald's omega ranged from 0.60 to 0.84. The TDMS has generally acceptable reliability for the self-assessment of mood states by older adults with dementia.

Patients' Communication Preferences Around Cancer Symptom Reporting During Cancer Treatment: A Phenomenological Study

Background:

The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to gain an in-depth understanding of cancer patients’ experiences and perspectives on self-reporting their symptoms. Patients with cancer experience a wide variety of symptoms from both their disease and treatment, yet clinicians are often unaware of their patients’ symptoms due to poor reporting methods. Poorly documented symptoms are more likely to go untreated, causing increased symptom distress and decreased quality of life for patients. Effective, real-time communication between patients and health-care practitioners is key to symptom assessment and management. Moreover, it is important for patients’ communication preferences to be taken into account when developing symptom management plans.

Methods:

This qualitative study focused on the symptom reporting experiences of 13 adults in the United States with advanced or metastatic cancer who were undergoing systemic cancer treatment. Data were collected via interviews.

Results:

The findings revealed that a personalized symptom management plan, prompt reporting, and timely communication with health-care practitioners improved patients’ physical and emotional wellbeing.

Conclusions:

A better understanding of cancer patients’ experiences self-reporting their symptoms may lead to improved communication methods and more effective reporting systems, which ultimately reduce patient burden and enhance patients’ self-advocacy. Ensuring that patients’ preferences for reporting their symptoms are met may positively influence the likelihood and timeliness of symptom self-reporting. Developing new and improved ways for health-care teams to manage symptoms is vital to improving patients’ quality of life.

Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Evaluating Cancer Symptoms: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVES

This systematic review aims to evaluate the psychometric properties and the methodologic quality of studies describing smartphone-, tablet- or computer-based questionnaires for Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROM) evaluating symptoms in oncology and hematology patients.

DATA SOURCES

A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, Cinahl, Cuiden, Lilacs, and PsycINFO. Criteria for inclusion were (i) primary studies evaluating scales for symptoms assessment, (ii) developed in adult population (>18 years) with an oncology or hematology malignancy diagnosis, (iii) validations tested via phone or computer, and (iv) describing at least one psychometric property. The exclusion criteria were (i) tools diagnosing any type of cancer and (ii) case series, surveys, and audits. The outcome variables were internal consistency, test-retest reliability, measurement error, content validity, structural validity, hypothesis testing, cross-cultural validity, and responsiveness. For the evaluation of the quality of methodology, the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist was used.

CONCLUSION

The present study gathered five tools in 12 articles to evaluate cancer symptoms through smartphone, tablet, or computer format. Although four were generic, one was specific for breast cancer. Although none of the tools had been fully validated, some of the items of the Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) were successfully tested for content, reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

Our results can guide professionals choosing symptoms assessment instruments when performing telepractice, and they raise awareness of using with precaution scales not intended for remote use.

Scoping Review of Healthcare Literature on Mobile, Wearable, and Textile Sensing Technology for Continuous Monitoring

Remote monitoring of health can reduce frequent hospitalisations, diminishing the burden on the healthcare system and cost to the community. Patient monitoring helps identify symptoms associated with diseases or disease-driven disorders, which makes it an essential element of medical diagnoses, clinical interventions, and rehabilitation treatments for severe medical conditions. This monitoring can be expensive and time-consuming and provide an incomplete picture of the state of the patient. In the last decade, there has been a significant increase in the adoption of mobile and wearable devices, along with the introduction of smart textile solutions that offer the possibility of continuous monitoring. These alternatives fuel a technology shift in healthcare, one that involves the continuous tracking and monitoring of individuals. This scoping review examines how mobile, wearable, and textile sensing technology have been permeating healthcare by offering alternate solutions to challenging issues, such as personalised prescriptions or home-based secondary prevention. To do so, we have selected 222 healthcare literature articles published from 2007 to 2019 and reviewed them following the PRISMA process under the schema of a scoping review framework. Overall, our findings show a recent increase in research on mobile sensing technology to address patient monitoring, reflected by 128 articles published in journals and 19 articles in conference proceedings between 2014 and 2019, which represents 57.65% and 8.55% respectively of all included articles.

Electronic Data Capture Versus Conventional Data Collection Methods in Clinical Pain Studies: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

The most commonly used means to assess pain is by patient self-reported questionnaires. These questionnaires have traditionally been completed using paper-and-pencil, telephone, or in-person methods, which may limit the validity of the collected data. Electronic data capture methods represent a potential way to validly, reliably, and feasibly collect pain-related data from patients in both clinical and research settings.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare electronic and conventional pain-related data collection methods with respect to pain score equivalence, data completeness, ease of use, efficiency, and acceptability between methods.

METHODS

We searched the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) from database inception until November 2019. We included all peer-reviewed studies that compared electronic (any modality) and conventional (paper-, telephone-, or in-person-based) data capture methods for patient-reported pain data on one of the following outcomes: pain score equivalence, data completeness, ease of use, efficiency, and acceptability. We used random effects models to combine score equivalence data across studies that reported correlations or measures of agreement between electronic and conventional pain assessment methods.

RESULTS

A total of 53 unique studies were included in this systematic review, of which 21 were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, the pain scores reported electronically were congruent with those reported using conventional modalities, with the majority of studies (36/44, 82%) that reported on pain scores demonstrating this relationship. The weighted summary correlation coefficient of pain score equivalence from our meta-analysis was 0.92 (95% CI 0.88-0.95). Studies on data completeness, patient- or provider-reported ease of use, and efficiency generally indicated that electronic data capture methods were equivalent or superior to conventional methods. Most (19/23, 83%) studies that directly surveyed patients reported that the electronic format was the preferred data collection method.

CONCLUSIONS

Electronic pain-related data capture methods are comparable with conventional methods in terms of score equivalence, data completeness, ease, efficiency, and acceptability and, if the appropriate psychometric evaluations are in place, are a feasible means to collect pain data in clinical and research settings.

Development of an Early Warning System to Prevent Crises in the Palliative Home Care Setting of Patients and Their Informal Caregivers: Protocol for a Mixed Method Study

BACKGROUND

Most people wish to die at home, but most people in Switzerland die in hospitals or nursing homes. Family caregivers often offer support so patients with palliative care needs can stay at home for as long as possible. However, crises and unplanned hospital admissions often occur in this setting because of family caregiver strain and symptom severity in patients. The so-called smart devices such as wearables or smartphones offer the opportunity to continuously monitor certain parameters and recording symptom deteriorations. By providing professionals with this information in a timely manner, crises in the home could be avoided.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this interdisciplinary study is to explore the symptom burden of people with palliative care needs who are cared for at home and to understand the development of crises in the home care setting. On the basis of the findings from this study, we will develop an early warning system to stabilize the home care situation and to prevent critical events from happening, thereby reducing avoidable hospitalizations.

METHODS

A mixed method study is being conducted consisting of 4 main consecutive phases: (1) developing the monitoring system; (2) pretesting the system and adapting it to user needs; (3) conducting the study in the palliative home care setting with approximately 40 patients; and (4) distinguishing symptom patterns from the collected data specific to crisis emergence, followed by the development of an early warning system to prevent such crises. In study phase 3, each patient will receive an upper arm sensor and a symptom diary to assess symptom burden related to patients and family caregivers. A within-case analysis will be conducted for each patient's situation followed by a cross-case comparison to identify certain symptom patterns that may predict symptom deterioration (study phase 4).

RESULTS

The collaboration with the local mobile palliative care team for participant recruitment and data collection has been established. Recruitment is forthcoming.

CONCLUSIONS

We expect the findings of this study to provide holistic insight into symptom burden and the well-being of patients with palliative care needs and of their family caregivers. This information will be used to develop an early warning system to avoid the occurrence of potential crises, thereby improving palliative care provision at home.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

 PRR1-10.2196/13933.

Patient Use of Electronic Methods to Self-Report Symptoms: An Integrative Literature Review

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Clinicians are unaware of most of their patients' symptoms. Symptoms may be poorly documented and their impact underestimated. Undertreatment of symptoms may lead to increased symptom distress and decreased quality of life. Improving the communication of symptoms to nurses is vital in symptom management and quality-of-life improvement. Electronic patient self-report of symptoms may be beneficial.

LITERATURE SEARCH

An integrative review of the literature was conducted to describe the use of electronic methods for symptom self-report by patients with cancer and to inform best practices.

DATA EVALUATION

The final sample for this integrative review consisted of 36 studies (32 quantitative and 4 qualitative).

SYNTHESIS

Data analysis was used to summarize the findings of the 36 studies. Patients with cancer found electronic self-report of symptoms to be feasible and the devices usable. Electronic symptom reporting may improve patient-clinician communication, leading to improved physical and psychosocial outcomes.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

In the studies that included an interactive communication component, oncology nurses were central in receiving, reviewing, and reporting changes to the provider. Patients expressed themselves more when consulting with nurses than with physicians.

Exploring the implementation of patient-reported outcome measures in cancer care: need for more real-world evidence results in the peer reviewed literature

BACKGROUND

To explore the existing evidence of the real-world implementation of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in oncology clinical practice and address two aims: (1) summarize available evidence of PRO use in clinical practice using a framework based on the International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL) PRO Implementation Guide; and (2) describe reports of real-world, standardized PRO administration in oncology conducted outside of scope of a research study.

METHODS

A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol was developed to guide the systematic literature review (SLR) that was conducted in MEDLINE and Embase databases. A two step search strategy was implemented including two searches based on previously completed reviews. Studies published from 2006 to 2017 were synthesized using a framework based on the ISOQOL PRO Implementation Guide.

RESULTS

After screening 4427 abstracts, 36 studies met the eligibility criteria. Most elements of the ISOQOL PRO Implementation Guide were followed. Two notable exceptions were found: 1) providing PRO score interpretation guidelines (39% of studies); and 2) providing patient-management guidance for addressing issues identified by PROs (25% of studies). Of the 22 studies with an intervention component, 19 (86%) reported intervention effects on study outcomes. The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality-of-Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) was the most commonly used PRO (n = 10, 28%); use of 38 other PRO measures was also reported. Only three studies (8%) reported real-world PRO implementation.

CONCLUSION

Reports of real-world PRO implementation are limited. Reports from studies conducted in clinical settings suggest gaps in information on PRO score interpretation and the use of PRO results to inform patient management. Before the promise of practice-based PRO assessment in oncology can be truly realized, investigators need to advance the state-of-the-art of real-time PRO score interpretation as well as developing guidance on how to use PRO insights to drive clinically-meaningful patient-management strategies.

mHealth Technologies for Palliative Care Patients at the Interface of In-Patient to Outpatient Care: Protocol of Feasibility Study Aiming to Early Predict Deterioration of Patient's Health Status

Background

Palliative care patients are a particularly vulnerable population and one of the critical phases in patients’ trajectories is discharge from specialized in-patient palliative care into outpatient care, where availability of a palliative care infrastructure is highly variable. A relevant number of potentially avoidable readmissions and emergency visits of palliative patients is observed due to rapid exacerbation of symptoms indicating the need for a closer patient monitoring. In the last years, different mHealth technology applications have been evaluated in many different patient groups.

Objective

The aim of our study is to test feasibility of a remote physical and social tracking system in palliative care patients.

Methods

A feasibility study with explorative, descriptive study design, comprised of 3 work packages. From the wards of the Clinic of Radiation-Oncology at the University Hospital Zurich, including the specialized palliative care ward, 30 patients will be recruited and will receive a mobile phone and a tracking bracelet before discharge. The aim of work package A is to evaluate if severely ill patients accept to be equipped with a tracking bracelet and a mobile phone (by semiquantitative questionnaires and guideline interviews). Work package B evaluates the technical feasibility and quality of the acquired electronic health data. Work package C will demonstrate whether physical activity parameters, such as step count, sleep duration, social activity patterns like making calls, and vital signs (eg, heart rate) do correlate with subjective health data and can serve as indicator to early detect and predict changes in patients’ health status. Activity parameters will be extracted from the mobile phone’s and wristband’s sensor data using signal processing methods. Subjective health data is captured via electronic version of visual analog scale and Distress Thermometer as well as the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer – Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 in paper version.

Results

Enrollment began in February 2017. First study results will be reported in the middle of 2018.

Conclusions

Our project will deliver relevant data on patients’ acceptance of activity and social tracking and test the correlation between subjective symptom assessment and objective activity in the vulnerable population of palliative care patients. The proposed study is meant to be preparatory work for an intervention study to test the effect of wireless monitoring of palliative care patients on symptom control and quality of life.

Clinical Relevance of the First Domomedicine Platform Securing Multidrug Chronotherapy Delivery in Metastatic Cancer Patients at Home: The inCASA European Project

Background

Telehealth solutions can improve the safety of ambulatory chemotherapy, contributing to the maintenance of patients at their home, hence improving their well-being, all the while reducing health care costs. There is, however, need for a practicable multilevel monitoring solution, encompassing relevant outputs involved in the pathophysiology of chemotherapy-induced toxicity. Domomedicine embraces the delivery of complex care and medical procedures at the patient’s home based on modern technologies, and thus it offers an integrated approach for increasing the safety of cancer patients on chemotherapy.

Objective

The objective was to evaluate patient compliance and clinical relevance of a novel integrated multiparametric telemonitoring domomedicine platform in cancer patients receiving multidrug chemotherapy at home.

Methods

Self-measured body weight, self-rated symptoms using the 19-item MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI), and circadian rest-activity rhythm recording with a wrist accelerometer (actigraph) were transmitted daily by patients to a server via the Internet, using a dedicated platform installed at home. Daily body weight changes, individual MDASI scores, and relative percentage of activity in-bed versus out-of-bed (I<O) were computed. Chemotherapy was administered according to the patient medical condition. Compliance was evaluated according to the proportions of (1) patient-days with all data available (full) and (2) patient-days with at least one parameter available (minimal). Acceptability was assessed using the Whole Systems Demonstrator Service User Technology Acceptability Questionnaire. Linear discriminant analysis was used to identify the combination of parameters associated with subsequent unplanned hospitalization.

Results

A total of 31 patients (males: 55% [17/31]; World Health Organization Performance Status=0: 29% (9/31); age range: 35-91 years) participated for a median of 58 days (38-313). They received a total of 102 chemotherapy courses (64.7% as outpatients). Overall full compliance was 59.7% (522/874), with at least one data available for 830/874 patient-days (95.0%), during the 30-day per-protocol span. Missing data rates were similar for each parameter. Patients were altogether satisfied with the use of the platform. Ten toxicity-related hospitalizations occurred in 6 patients. The combination of weighted circadian function (actigraphy parameter I<O), body weight change, and MDASI scores predicted for ensuing emergency hospitalization within 3 days, with an accuracy of 94%.

Conclusions

Multidimensional daily telemonitoring of body weight, circadian rest-activity rhythm, and patient-reported symptoms was feasible, satisfactory, and clinically relevant in patients on chemotherapy. This domomedicine platform constitutes a unique tool for the further development of safe home-based chemotherapy administration.

New Frontiers in Outpatient Palliative Care for Patients With Cancer

BACKGROUND

Although much evidence has accumulated demonstrating its benefit, relatively little is known about outpatient palliative care in patients with cancer.

METHODS

This paper reviews the literature and perspectives from content experts to describe the current state of outpatient palliative care in the oncology setting and current areas of innovation and promise in the field.

RESULTS

Evidence, including from controlled trials, documents the benefits of outpatient palliative care in the oncology setting. As a result, professional medical organizations have guidelines and recommendations based on the key role of palliative care in oncology. Six elements of the practice sit at the frontier of outpatient oncology palliative care, including the setting and timing of palliative care integration into outpatient oncology, the relationships between primary and specialty palliative care, quality and measurement, research, electronic and technical innovations, and finances.

CONCLUSIONS

Evidence of clinical and health care system benefits supports the recommendations of professional organizations to integrate palliative care into the routine treatment of patients with advanced cancer.

Back pain beliefs in adolescents and adults in Australasia: A cross-sectional pilot study of selected psychometric properties of paper-based and web-based questionnaires in two diverse countries

BACKGROUND

It is unknown whether questionnaires measuring psychosocial constructs related to low back pain (LBP) that were originally designed for adults are suitable for adolescents, and if paper and web-versions have similar measurement properties.

OBJECTIVES

To examine selected psychometric properties for the paper- and web-based Back-Beliefs Questionnaire (BBQ) and the Fear Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ-phys) among adults and adolescents in two diverse countries and to determine whether differences existed between countries and pain groups.

METHODS

A sample of 156 adults (Hong Kong, n= 75; Australia, n= 81) and 96 adolescents (Hong Kong, n= 61; Australia, n= 35) participated in this cross-sectional study.

RESULTS

Main effects for country and administration mode were observed in adult BBQ scores, where Australian adults reported significantly higher BBQ scores than Hong Kong adults (mean difference (MD); 95% CI: 2.85; 0.96-4.74) and significantly higher scores were recorded on the web mode compared to the paper mode (MD 0.74; 0.10-1.38). Similarly, Hong Kong adults and adolescents reported higher FABQ-phys scores than Australian adults and adolescents (MD; 95% CI: 3.40; 1.37-5.43 and 4.88; 0.53-9.23, respectively). Internal consistency values were mostly acceptable (α ≥ 0.7).

CONCLUSION

Differences exist between cultures for LBP-related beliefs. The BBQ and FABQ-phys have acceptable measurement properties in both administration modes.

The effect of real-time electronic monitoring of patient-reported symptoms and clinical syndromes in outpatient workflow of medical oncologists: E-MOSAIC, a multicenter cluster-randomized phase III study (SAKK 95/06)

BACKGROUND

Patients with advanced, incurable cancer receiving anticancer treatment often experience multidimensional symptoms. We hypothesize that real-time monitoring of both symptoms and clinical syndromes will improve symptom management by oncologists and patient outcomes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

In this prospective multicenter cluster-randomized phase-III trial, patients with incurable, symptomatic, solid tumors, who received new outpatient chemotherapy with palliative intention, were eligible. Immediately before the weekly oncologists' visit, patients completed the palm-based E-MOSAIC assessment (Edmonton-Symptom-Assessment-Scale, ≤3 additional symptoms, estimated nutritional intake, body weight change, Karnofsky Performance Status, medications for pain, fatigue, nutrition). A cumulative, longitudinal monitoring sheet (LoMoS) was printed immediately. Eligible experienced oncologists were defined as one cluster each and randomized to receive the immediate print-out LoMoS (intervention) or not (control). Primary analysis limited to patients having uninterrupted (>4/6 visits with same oncologist) patient-oncologist sequences was a mixed model for the difference in patients global quality of life (G-QoL; items 29/30 of EORTC-QlQ-c30) between baseline (BL) and week 6. Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis included all eligible patients.

RESULTS

In 8 centers, 82 oncologists treated 264 patients (median 66 years; overall survival intervention 6.3, control 5.4 months) with various tumors. The between-arm difference in G-QoL of 102 uninterrupted patients (intervention: 55; control: 47) was 6.8 (P = 0.11) in favor of the intervention; in a sensitivity analysis (oncologists treating ≥2 patients; 50, 39), it was 9.0 (P = 0.07). ITT analysis revealed improvement in symptoms (difference last study visit-BL: intervention -5.4 versus control 2.1, P = 0.003) and favored the intervention for communication and coping. More patients with high symptom load received immediate symptom management (chart review, nurse-patient interview) by oncologists getting the LoMoS.

CONCLUSION

Monitoring of patient symptoms, clinical syndromes and their management clearly reduced patients' symptoms, but not QoL. Our results encourage the implementation of real-time monitoring in the routine workflow of oncologist with a computer solution.

Comparison of self-administered survey questionnaire responses collected using mobile apps versus other methods

BACKGROUND

Self-administered survey questionnaires are an important data collection tool in clinical practice, public health research and epidemiology. They are ideal for achieving a wide geographic coverage of the target population, dealing with sensitive topics and are less resource-intensive than other data collection methods. These survey questionnaires can be delivered electronically, which can maximise the scalability and speed of data collection while reducing cost. In recent years, the use of apps running on consumer smart devices (i.e., smartphones and tablets) for this purpose has received considerable attention. However, variation in the mode of delivering a survey questionnaire could affect the quality of the responses collected.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the impact that smartphone and tablet apps as a delivery mode have on the quality of survey questionnaire responses compared to any other alternative delivery mode: paper, laptop computer, tablet computer (manufactured before 2007), short message service (SMS) and plastic objects.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, IEEEXplore, Web of Science, CABI: CAB Abstracts, Current Contents Connect, ACM Digital, ERIC, Sociological Abstracts, Health Management Information Consortium, the Campbell Library and CENTRAL. We also searched registers of current and ongoing clinical trials such as ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform. We also searched the grey literature in OpenGrey, Mobile Active and ProQuest Dissertation & Theses. Lastly, we searched Google Scholar and the reference lists of included studies and relevant systematic reviews. We performed all searches up to 12 and 13 April 2015.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included parallel randomised controlled trials (RCTs), crossover trials and paired repeated measures studies that compared the electronic delivery of self-administered survey questionnaires via a smartphone or tablet app with any other delivery mode. We included data obtained from participants completing health-related self-administered survey questionnaire, both validated and non-validated. We also included data offered by both healthy volunteers and by those with any clinical diagnosis. We included studies that reported any of the following outcomes: data equivalence; data accuracy; data completeness; response rates; differences in the time taken to complete a survey questionnaire; differences in respondent's adherence to the original sampling protocol; and acceptability to respondents of the delivery mode. We included studies that were published in 2007 or after, as devices that became available during this time are compatible with the mobile operating system (OS) framework that focuses on apps.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently extracted data from the included studies using a standardised form created for this systematic review in REDCap. They then compared their forms to reach consensus. Through an initial systematic mapping on the included studies, we identified two settings in which survey completion took place: controlled and uncontrolled. These settings differed in terms of (i) the location where surveys were completed, (ii) the frequency and intensity of sampling protocols, and (iii) the level of control over potential confounders (e.g., type of technology, level of help offered to respondents). We conducted a narrative synthesis of the evidence because a meta-analysis was not appropriate due to high levels of clinical and methodological diversity. We reported our findings for each outcome according to the setting in which the studies were conducted.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 14 studies (15 records) with a total of 2275 participants; although we included only 2272 participants in the final analyses as there were missing data for three participants from one included study.Regarding data equivalence, in both controlled and uncontrolled settings, the included studies found no significant differences in the mean overall scores between apps and other delivery modes, and that all correlation coefficients exceeded the recommended thresholds for data equivalence. Concerning the time taken to complete a survey questionnaire in a controlled setting, one study found that an app was faster than paper, whereas the other study did not find a significant difference between the two delivery modes. In an uncontrolled setting, one study found that an app was faster than SMS. Data completeness and adherence to sampling protocols were only reported in uncontrolled settings. Regarding the former, an app was found to result in more complete records than paper, and in significantly more data entries than an SMS-based survey questionnaire. Regarding adherence to the sampling protocol, apps may be better than paper but no different from SMS. We identified multiple definitions of acceptability to respondents, with inconclusive results: preference; ease of use; willingness to use a delivery mode; satisfaction; effectiveness of the system informativeness; perceived time taken to complete the survey questionnaire; perceived benefit of a delivery mode; perceived usefulness of a delivery mode; perceived ability to complete a survey questionnaire; maximum length of time that participants would be willing to use a delivery mode; and reactivity to the delivery mode and its successful integration into respondents' daily routine. Finally, regardless of the study setting, none of the included studies reported data accuracy or response rates.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Our results, based on a narrative synthesis of the evidence, suggest that apps might not affect data equivalence as long as the intended clinical application of the survey questionnaire, its intended frequency of administration and the setting in which it was validated remain unchanged. There were no data on data accuracy or response rates, and findings on the time taken to complete a self-administered survey questionnaire were contradictory. Furthermore, although apps might improve data completeness, there is not enough evidence to assess their impact on adherence to sampling protocols. None of the included studies assessed how elements of user interaction design, survey questionnaire design and intervention design might influence mode effects. Those conducting research in public health and epidemiology should not assume that mode effects relevant to other delivery modes apply to apps running on consumer smart devices. Those conducting methodological research might wish to explore the issues highlighted by this systematic review.

Patient-reported outcome assessment after total joint replacement: comparison of questionnaire completion times on paper and tablet computer

INTRODUCTION

Patient-reported outcome (PRO) assessment is becoming increasingly important after joint replacement surgery. However, PRO data collection, questionnaire handling, and data processing are time consuming and costly process. The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficiency of PRO assessment using tablet computers compared with traditional paper questionnaires in a total hip or knee arthroplasty (THR or TKR) population.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We recruited 100 patients from outpatient clinics attending for routine follow-up 2 months, 1 year, or 5 years after THR or TKR. Fifty patients completed the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) osteoarthritis score and Forgotten Joint Score-12 (FJS-12) questionnaires on paper, and 50 patients completed these on a tablet computer. Questionnaire completion was timed for each PRO assessment and for manual data entry of the paper questionnaires into the database. The t test, Mann-Whitney U test, Fisher's exact test, and Wilcoxon test were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

The mean age of the patients was 67.0 years (standard deviation 10.3 years), with no significant difference between the two groups. Median time for WOMAC questionnaire completion (including data entry for the paper questionnaires) was 197 s for the paper version and 117 s for the tablet version (p < 0.001). Median times for completion of FJS-12 were comparable for paper and tablet versions (32 vs. 37 s). We did not find a significant correlation between age and time for questionnaire completion.

CONCLUSION

Electronic PRO data collection can substantially decrease time, logistics, and effort associated with questionnaire completion in daily clinical practice. It is also acceptable for use in an older arthroplasty population.