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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Cancer

Date Submitted: Feb 9, 2024
Date Accepted: Jul 23, 2024

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

Patient Voices: Multimethod Study on the Feasibility of Implementing Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in a Comprehensive Cancer Center

Brunelli C, Alfieri S, Zito E, Spelta M, Arba L, Lombi L, Caselli L, Caraceni A, Borreani C, Roli A, Miceli R, Tinè G, Zecca E, Platania M, Procopio G, Nicolai N, Battaglia L, Lozza L, Shkodra M, Massa G, Loiacono D, Apolone G

Patient Voices: Multimethod Study on the Feasibility of Implementing Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in a Comprehensive Cancer Center

JMIR Cancer 2025;11:e56625

DOI: 10.2196/56625

PMID: 39842002

PMCID: 11799810

Patient Voices: a multi-method study on the feasibility of implementing electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in a Comprehensive Cancer Centre

  • Cinzia Brunelli; 
  • Sara Alfieri; 
  • Emanuela Zito; 
  • Marco Spelta; 
  • Laura Arba; 
  • Linda Lombi; 
  • Luana Caselli; 
  • Augusto Caraceni; 
  • Claudia Borreani; 
  • Anna Roli; 
  • Rosalba Miceli; 
  • Gabriele Tinè; 
  • Ernesto Zecca; 
  • Marco Platania; 
  • Giuseppe Procopio; 
  • Nicola Nicolai; 
  • Luigi Battaglia; 
  • Laura Lozza; 
  • Morena Shkodra; 
  • Giacomo Massa; 
  • Daniele Loiacono; 
  • Giovanni Apolone

ABSTRACT

Background:

The PATIENT VOICES system is a software developed to promote the systematic collection of electronic patient-reported outcome measures (ePROMs) in routine oncology clinical practice.

Objective:

This study aimed to test the feasibility of such a system, assessing patient compliance and analysing patient-related barriers to ePROMs implementation in a comprehensive cancer centre.

Methods:

Consecutive cancer patients attending three outpatient clinics and three inpatient wards were screened for eligibility (adult, native-speakers, and being able to fill in the ePROMs) and enrolled in a convergent quantitative and qualitative mixed-method study. Compliance, reasons for non-completion, patients' interaction needs and patient perceived System Usability Scale (SUS, range 0-100) were collected; semi-structured interviews were carried out in a subsample of patients.

Results:

Among 435 patients screened, 309 completed the ePROMs (73.4%; 95%CI 69.8% to 77.5%). Organization problems and patient refusal were the main reasons for non-completion among outpatients (17.1%) and inpatients (21.9%), respectively. Help for tablet usage was needed by 10.7% of inpatients and 27.8% of outpatients, while the support received for item interpretation was similar in the two groups (18.6% and 21.3%). Average SUS scores indicated high usability in both groups (86.8 and 83.9). Overall repeated measurement compliance (out-patients only) was 76.9%. Interviewed patients showed positive attitudes towards ePROMs, yet major barriers to implementation emerged about time and cognitive burden to complete the questionnaires, and perceived irrelevance of ePROMs.

Conclusions:

This study provides useful information for future ePROM implementation strategies, aimed at effectively supporting the routine clinical management and care of cancer patients. Also, these findings may be relevant to other organisations willing to systematically collect PROMs/ePROMs in their clinical routines.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Brunelli C, Alfieri S, Zito E, Spelta M, Arba L, Lombi L, Caselli L, Caraceni A, Borreani C, Roli A, Miceli R, Tinè G, Zecca E, Platania M, Procopio G, Nicolai N, Battaglia L, Lozza L, Shkodra M, Massa G, Loiacono D, Apolone G

Patient Voices: Multimethod Study on the Feasibility of Implementing Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in a Comprehensive Cancer Center

JMIR Cancer 2025;11:e56625

DOI: 10.2196/56625

PMID: 39842002

PMCID: 11799810

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