JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) frequently experience disease-related symptoms and treatment adverse effects that impact their overall quality of life. Cancer-specific mobile health (mHealth) applications (app) for patient-related outcomes (PROs) allow patients to communicate with their clinicians and proactively track their symptoms, which has been shown to improve clinical management and disease outcomes.

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of LogPALTM, a novel iOS-based mHealth app designed to help HNC survivors track and manage their post-treatment symptoms.

Methods:

Patients who completed curative treatment for HNC in the preceding 24 months were recruited from two clinical sites within a single institution. Upon enrollment, participants completed a brief sociodemographic survey, downloaded the app onto their iOS device, and were asked to complete a series of biweekly questionnaires (based on the Patient Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria of Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) via the app for an eight-week study period. The primary feasibility end-points included: retention (retaining > 80% of enrolled participants for the duration of the study period), adherence (> 50% of participants completing 100% of questionnaires over the study period), and usability (a mean System Usability Scale (SUS) score of > 68). Additional post-intervention questions were collected to assess perceived usefulness, acceptance and overall satisfaction.

Results:

Between January and October 2019, a total of 38 participants enrolled in the study. Three participants dropped out, and three were classified as non-users. The remaining 32 (86.8%) were eligible for analysis. Mean age was 58 years ([ranged 24-72], 81.3% male). Overall, 375 of 512 (73.2%) questionnaires were completed, with 17 (53.1%) participants adherent. Participant-reported usability was acceptable; mean SUS score was 71.9 (95% CI 64.3 – 79.5) with high satisfaction of LogPALTM usefulness and likelihood to recommend to other cancer survivors.

Conclusions:

This single-arm prospective pilot study showed that LogPALTM is a feasible, regularly used, accepted app for HNC survivors, justifying a full-scale pilot. Based on findings from this study, future iterations will aim to improve usability and test intervention efficacy.