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A Digital Health Solution for Monitoring Skin Toxicities in Cancer Treatment
ABSTRACT
Background:
Skin toxicities (ST) such as rash, xerosis, or pruritus, can hinder the optimal dosing of cancer therapies. Their management is palliative and prompted by patient report of skin symptoms.
Objective:
We aimed to develop a digital solution for monitoring STs in patients receiving anticancer therapies to collect, transfer and visualize data relevant to ST between clinic visits could contribute to early identification and decreased morbidity for patients.
Methods:
Published literature review and clinical expertise informed the content of the digital product. Behavioral psychology, measurement, and data science drove the design of interfaces and functionalities with a focus on user-engagement and diversity. Patients (n=15) receiving anticancer therapies participated in the first round of content validation for the symptom tracker and patients (n=20) and clinicians (oncologists and nurses, n=8) participated in the second round of qualitative user testing of the overall content and design.
Results:
The patient application supports an educated report, severity rating, and report of location and surface of symptoms most relevant for ST and patient-captured pictures of skin lesions. The healthcare provider portal provides an easy visualization of patient-reported symptoms, patient’s skin history, and pictures of the skin lesion(s). Most patients felt that the content was easy to understand, and tracking skin symptoms was seen as an enabler of more precise discussions with clinicians. Clinicians were positive about the utility of monitoring patients' skin status before a visit.
Conclusions:
The digital solution features several innovative components for reliable and sustained data capture of the onset and evolution of skin symptoms, providing relevant insight for the remote monitoring of patients at risk of STs. Empirical evidence of clinical utility is needed. Clinical Trial: None
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