Patients' and clinicians' experiences using a real-time remote monitoring system for chemotherapy symptom management (ASyMS) : qualitative study

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McCann, Lisa and Lewis, Liane and Oduntan, Olubukola and Harris, Jenny and Darley, Andrew and Berg, Geir V and Lubowitzki, Simone and Cheevers, Katy and Miller, Morven and Armes, Jo and Ream, Emma and Fox, Patricia and Furlong, Eileen Patricia and Gaiger, Alexander and Kotronoulas, Grigorios and Patiraki, Elisabeth and Katsaragakis, Stylianos and McCrone, Paul and Miaskowski, Christine and Cardone, Antonella and Orr, Dawn and Flowerday, Adrian and Skene, Simon and Moore, Margaret and De Souza, Nicosha and Kearney, Nora and Donnan, Peter and Maguire, Roma (2024) Patients' and clinicians' experiences using a real-time remote monitoring system for chemotherapy symptom management (ASyMS) : qualitative study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 26. e53834. ISSN 1438-8871 (https://doi.org/10.2196/53834)

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Abstract

Background: Patients receiving chemotherapy require ongoing symptom monitoring and management to optimize their outcomes. In recent years, digital remote monitoring interventions have emerged to provide enhanced cancer care delivery experiences to patients and clinicians. However, patient and clinician experiential evaluations of these technologies are rare. Therefore, we explored user experiences and perceptions of one such intervention—Advanced Symptom Management System (ASyMS)—after its scaled deployment in the context of the Electronic Symptom Management System Remote Technology (eSMART) trial. The eSMART trial was a large, multicenter randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of ASyMS in 12 clinical sites in 5 European countries. Objective: In this qualitative study, both patients’ and clinicians’ experiences of using ASyMS for up to 6 cycles of chemotherapy were explored to understand the impact of ASyMS on patients’ experiences, clinical practice, and supportive care delivery. Methods: For this analysis, individual, semistructured, one-to-one interviews with 29 patients with breast, colorectal, and hematological cancers and 18 clinicians from Austria, Greece, Ireland, Norway, and the United Kingdom were conducted. Interviews focused on patients’ and clinicians’ experiences of using ASyMS, care organization and changes in practice following the introduction of ASyMS, perceived changes in care associated with the use of ASyMS, and its potential for future integration into routine chemotherapy care pathways. Results: Thematic analysis identified several themes that describe patients’ and clinicians’ experiences using ASyMS. One central orienting theme—ASyMS as a facilitator of change—was supported by 5 key themes associated with human and technology monitoring: reassurance, enhanced communications and relationships, knowing what is “normal” and what is to be expected, enhancing cancer care experiences, and informing future cancer care. Conclusions: This study is the first to evaluate both patients’ and clinicians’ experiences of using a digital health intervention to remotely monitor chemotherapy symptoms across 5 countries. Experiences with ASyMS were positive from both patients’ and clinicians’ perspectives, although some improvements to support the wider-scale rollout and sustained implementation were identified. Overall, this study demonstrates that real-time remote monitoring systems can help patients feel more reassured during their chemotherapy treatments and can help clinicians provide the right care, at the right time, and in the right place.

ORCID iDs

McCann, Lisa ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5322-5778, Lewis, Liane, Oduntan, Olubukola, Harris, Jenny, Darley, Andrew, Berg, Geir V, Lubowitzki, Simone, Cheevers, Katy, Miller, Morven, Armes, Jo, Ream, Emma, Fox, Patricia, Furlong, Eileen Patricia, Gaiger, Alexander, Kotronoulas, Grigorios, Patiraki, Elisabeth, Katsaragakis, Stylianos, McCrone, Paul, Miaskowski, Christine, Cardone, Antonella, Orr, Dawn, Flowerday, Adrian, Skene, Simon, Moore, Margaret, De Souza, Nicosha, Kearney, Nora, Donnan, Peter and Maguire, Roma ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7935-3447;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)