Accepted for/Published in: JMIR mHealth and uHealth
Date Submitted: Apr 5, 2025
Date Accepted: Dec 1, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Improvement of quality of life after early interactive human coaching via a mobile application in patients who had undergone gastrectomy for gastric cancer: a prospective randomized controlled trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Patients who undergo gastrectomy experience post-gastrectomy syndrome and face difficulties in adapting to a regular diet. Human health coaching via a mobile application (app) has recently been used for patients with chronic metabolic diseases, with significant improvements being observed in clinical outcomes.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of human health coaching via a mobile app with that of conventional face-to-face counselling in patients who had undergone gastrectomy for gastric cancer.
Methods:
This prospective randomized controlled trial included patients enrolled between May 2020 and August 2022. The mobile coaching group received health coaching by assigned coaches via a mobile app for 3 months after discharge and was provided personalized advice based on the self-recorded health data. The conventional counselling group underwent dietary consultations with a clinical dietitian at 1 and 3 months postoperatively. Changes in quality of life using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaires (C30 and STO22) and nutritional parameters were assessed preoperatively and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively.
Results:
Among the 180 enrolled patients, data from 160 patients were analyzed after the exclusion of dropouts. In the mobile coaching group (n=76), 50 patients actively used the mobile app for ≥8 weeks were classified as the active group. The mobile coaching group had less dyspnea (P=.011), less eating restriction at 3 months (P=.045), and less negative body image at 3 months postoperatively (P=.036) than the conventional counselling group (n=84). In the mobile coaching group, the active group had a better global health status than the inactive group (P=.005). However, no significant differences in body composition or nutritional parameters were observed between the two groups.
Conclusions:
Human coaching via a mobile application had advantages on postoperative quality of life over conventional counselling in patients who had undergone gastrectomy for gastric cancer. This program would help patients manage their symptoms and adapt to their diet. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04394585, Registered May 19, 2020 – Retrospectively registered, http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT040394585
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