Study Results
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Basic Information
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UNKNOWN
NA
152 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2022-11-15
2024-06-30
Brief Summary
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Detailed Description
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Despite the advantages of such integrated PC interventions, healthcare systems usually encounter several barriers to implementing psychosocial care in palliative settings, like in advanced LC. The most typical include poor early detection of such needs; long waiting lists; and mobility restrictions, with many patients unable to attend visits in person. The literature strongly suggests that emotional distress is associated with worse quality of life, lower adherence to oncological treatments and adoption of unhealthy lifestyles. Actually, it is also demonstrated that stress reduction may even extend survival years. Since LC patients show great symptom variability, erratic evolution and high emotional impact along with a limited prognosis, it is urgent to increase the currently small proportion of patients with early screening, close and intensive monitoring and prompt referral to PC teams. To this aim, new approaches in psychosocial PC are needed to overcome the barriers experienced today.
In the last years, two main actions have been proposed to improve the implementation of psychosocial care in PC, placing a focus on its accessibility and efficiency. For example, recent studies have introduced earlier stepped (low to high intensity) and adaptive treatments as an ingenious and sensible response to the challenge of offering proper psychosocial interventions, with high cost-effectiveness in cancer. Another comprehensive action is to make use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). ICT has emerged in the last few years as an innovative resource to set this new wave of health practices in motion, with an exponential increase in its use and implementation during the COVID pandemic, to guarantee continuity of care in vulnerable advanced cancer patients. ICT have also shown their capability to overcome most of the limitations expressed in conventional care settings. These tools have provided faster and more intense follow-up options to monitor patients' warning signs, facilitating better communication between patients and professionals, and also leveraging cheaper and more accessible clinical treatments compared to traditional alternatives, even at the end of life. Nevertheless, the few studies comparing ICT and usual psychosocial interventions have found mixed effectiveness results so far.
Recently, ONCOMMUN, a European proposal for creating an e-health ecosystem (https://oncommun.eu/), has combined these two promising actions to facilitate early psychosocial care in an online and stepped psychosocial program. ONCOMMUN has shown promising preliminary results on breast cancer (BC) and a high potential for therapeutic application in advanced and palliative settings, like LC. The first level of care in this program is an online screening and monitoring tool, followed by a patient's campus comprising educational interventions (second level), a psychosocial support community (third level), and psychotherapeutic treatment groups through videoconference (fourth level).
The current project has been designed as a randomized non-inferiority controlled trial to compare an e-health ecosystem of psychosocial care, based on the ONCOMMUN proposal, against traditional in-person psychosocial treatment in PC during advanced LC. Our group proposes the development and adaptation of this digital ecosystem by integrating screening and monitoring tools with educational and psychological interventions, building upon the results of its recent implementation in BC. This innovative e-health ecosystem intends to foster healthy experiences, integrating a four-stepped psychosocial program of early PC focused on patients with a diagnosis of non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) at advanced stages (III and IV).
OBJECTIVES (3 years)
General
1. To offer early detection and tailored treatment of psychosocial and physical needs of advanced LC survivors.
2. To implement and assess an online stepped ecosystem for psychosocial and educational screening, monitoring and care, through the use of an e-health platform specifically developed for advanced LC patients.
Specific objectives
1. To compare the capacity of the digital ecosystem to detect and deliver early psychosocial care compared to treatment as usual.
2. To improve or cushion the consequences of the advanced lung cancer course and treatment in terms of emotional distress, demoralization and quality of life.
3. To explore the potential mediating and facilitating role of spirituality in an optimal psychosocial adaptation.
4. To study the cost-utility associated with both interventions in terms of Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY), through the estimation of patients' use of additional health services, their degree of pharmacological adherence, intake of psychotropic medication, and time spent in disability leaves.
5. To disseminate to cancer patients, professionals and the general public the results of the study.
Procedure and data acquisition
1. Development of an LC platform: LC platform will be adapted from the BC platform and fed by the results of the pilot LC system and focus groups with professionals and patients. The LC solution will share a set of structural items (e.g., measurement instruments, instant symptom management), to which specific resources for LC will be added. Patients' experience will be at the centre of this development stage to maximize usability and understanding of all resources.
2. Validation with users: Patients with advanced LC diagnosis will be invited to participate by their medical team. If interested, they will be contacted by our group and a face-to-face meeting will be scheduled, where the study will be described and informed consent signed in case of acceptance. Participants will be then randomized to 1) e-health ecosystem or 2) usual psychosocial care by an external researcher blind to the research questions and treatment conditions, using a random sequence of numbers generated by REDCap software. In the eHealth ecosystem group, participants lacking equipment will be offered webcams and tablets as needed. There are specific processes of the system that will only apply to ICOnnecta't branch as they will measure the platform usability and their associate emotional state during the study (see Interventions section below). All other measures will be administered from T0 to T3 through a professional online survey platform compliant with the latest European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR; EC/2016/679).
Data collection and analysis
Two databases will be created: The first one will associate participants' identifiable personal data (e.g., names, patient ID) with an alphanumeric code, and will be saved in an encrypted external hard drive stored in a key-protected closet within the office of the PI. The second database, created via REDCap system, will record all data to be analyzed making use of alphanumeric codes and will be stored in a secure collaborative cloud also GDPR-compliant. This procedure will allow us to conduct the analyses anonymously. Data will be monthly downloaded from REDCap and backed up in a second encrypted external hard drive. Every 3 months one researcher will conduct a data integrity check. While online systems automatically keep a registry of users' access, a notebook will remain next to the hard drives for researchers authorized by PIs to record their name, date and time when drives are retrieved and returned. Finally, the information collected through the eHealth ecosystem will also be stored in a GDPR-compliant server.
Descriptive results will be provided for sociodemographic and clinical variables, as well as for education, usability and satisfaction indicators, while between-group differences will be assessed with Student's t-test and chi-square tests as appropriate. Multilevel linear models (MLM) will be used to compare both groups in outcome variables, while effect sizes (Hedges' g) will be reported and non-inferiority tested. For QALY analyses, results from the EQ-5D-3L will be used together with costs associated with professional salaries, adherence, infrastructure, psychotropic medication and sick leaves. The effect of any potential confounding variable will be analyzed. Analyses will be conducted using SPSS v24.021 (IBM SPSS Statistics 21, 2017) by the IDIBELL biostatistics department.
Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
The sample size has been estimated with the support of the R software (R Core Team, 2020), setting a non-inferiority margin of 5 points in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Vaganian et al., 2020), with power at 80% and one-tailed α of 2.5%. A dropout rate of 25% was assumed. It was anticipated that 152 participants were necessary (n = 76 per arm) to ensure that a two-sided 95% confidence interval would exclude the non-inferiority threshold.
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
NONE
Study Groups
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eHealth ecosystem of stepped psychosocial care
Patients will be monitored allowing the delivery of timely and personalized care via a 4-level program:
1. Screening and psychosocial monitoring through a mobile application where patients have a messaging system to contact their psychologist and reference nurse.
2. Psychoeducation and health education campus, where patients can consult videos and online resources developed by health professionals, containing scientifically validated information.
3. Psychosocial support community where patients can share doubts, fears, and experiences with other patients with advanced lung cancer. This private social network is monitored by team specialists when necessary.
4. Online group psychotherapy of 8 weekly sessions of 90 minutes based on Meaning-Centered Group Psychotherapy (MCGP; Breitbart et al., 2010). Patients at this level will be on a waiting list, so the pool starts when there are 4-8 users available.
E-health ecosystem of stepped psychosocial care
1. Screening and monitoring: weekly administration of an emotional state thermometer. If the score is \>5, participants are asked to complete the HADS. If HADS' score \>10, step 2 is assigned. The same procedure is followed for steps 3 \& 4. Participants remain in each step for 2 weeks, and all level changes are preceded by a videoconference with a health professional
2. Online psychoeducation campus: displays co-constructed videos and posts developed by health professionals and patients about LC diagnosis and treatment aspects.
3. Online support community: anonymous survivors with LC diagnoses are included. Professionals and patient mentors supervise and foster debate, peer support, and resolve health Q\&As.
4. Weekly online group psychotherapy led by a clinical psychologist and composed of eight 90-minute sessions. Eligible users are placed on a waiting list, starting when 5-6 users are available.
Usual psychosocial care
This group will receive standard psychosocial care for cancer survivors at ICO Hospitalet center led by a clinical psychologist. It consists of 7 individual sessions of 45-60 minutes, scheduled every 2-3 weeks during 9 months and focused on emotional support and psychoeducation. Moreover, they will be offered the education materials from the 2nd step of the platform, as they are compiled in a website open to all patients and relatives.
Usual psychosocial care
Usual psychosocial care for cancer survivors at ICOHospitalet centre led by a clinical psychologist. Usual psychosocial care consists of 7 individual sessions of 45-60 minutes, with 2-3 weeks of space between sessions, based on Individual Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (IMCP) for Patients With Advanced Cancer (Breitbart et al., 2012). Moreover, they will be offered the education materials from the 2nd step of the platform, as they are compiled on a website open to all patients and relatives.
Interventions
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E-health ecosystem of stepped psychosocial care
1. Screening and monitoring: weekly administration of an emotional state thermometer. If the score is \>5, participants are asked to complete the HADS. If HADS' score \>10, step 2 is assigned. The same procedure is followed for steps 3 \& 4. Participants remain in each step for 2 weeks, and all level changes are preceded by a videoconference with a health professional
2. Online psychoeducation campus: displays co-constructed videos and posts developed by health professionals and patients about LC diagnosis and treatment aspects.
3. Online support community: anonymous survivors with LC diagnoses are included. Professionals and patient mentors supervise and foster debate, peer support, and resolve health Q\&As.
4. Weekly online group psychotherapy led by a clinical psychologist and composed of eight 90-minute sessions. Eligible users are placed on a waiting list, starting when 5-6 users are available.
Usual psychosocial care
Usual psychosocial care for cancer survivors at ICOHospitalet centre led by a clinical psychologist. Usual psychosocial care consists of 7 individual sessions of 45-60 minutes, with 2-3 weeks of space between sessions, based on Individual Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (IMCP) for Patients With Advanced Cancer (Breitbart et al., 2012). Moreover, they will be offered the education materials from the 2nd step of the platform, as they are compiled on a website open to all patients and relatives.
Other Intervention Names
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* LC diagnosis in advanced stages -III-IV
* Access to internet and user-level experience
* Reading and writing skills in Spanish
Exclusion Criteria
* Risk of self-harm
* Active psychotic symptoms
* Substance abuse
18 Years
80 Years
ALL
No
Sponsors
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Asociación Española contra el Cáncer
OTHER
Institut d'Investigació Biomèdica de Bellvitge
OTHER
Institut Català d'Oncologia
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Principal Investigators
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Cristian Ochoa, PhD
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
Institut Català d'Oncologia
Locations
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Institut Català d'Oncologia
L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Catalonia, Spain
Countries
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Central Contacts
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References
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Lobb EA, Lacey J, Kearsley J, Liauw W, White L, Hosie A. Living with advanced cancer and an uncertain disease trajectory: an emerging patient population in palliative care? BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2015 Dec;5(4):352-7. doi: 10.1136/bmjspcare-2012-000381. Epub 2013 Jan 28.
Fulton JJ, LeBlanc TW, Cutson TM, Porter Starr KN, Kamal A, Ramos K, Freiermuth CE, McDuffie JR, Kosinski A, Adam S, Nagi A, Williams JW. Integrated outpatient palliative care for patients with advanced cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Palliat Med. 2019 Feb;33(2):123-134. doi: 10.1177/0269216318812633. Epub 2018 Nov 29.
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Ochoa-Arnedo C, Flix-Valle A, Casellas-Grau A, Casanovas-Aljaro N, Herrero O, Sumalla EC, de Frutos ML, Sirgo A, Rodriguez A, Campos G, Valverde Y, Travier N, Medina JC. An exploratory study in breast cancer of factors involved in the use and communication with health professionals of Internet information. Support Care Cancer. 2020 Oct;28(10):4989-4996. doi: 10.1007/s00520-020-05335-x. Epub 2020 Feb 7.
Vaganian L, Bussmann S, Gerlach AL, Kusch M, Labouvie H, Cwik JC. Critical consideration of assessment methods for clinically significant changes of mental distress after psycho-oncological interventions. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res. 2020 Jun;29(2):e1821. doi: 10.1002/mpr.1821. Epub 2020 Feb 23.
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R Core Team. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Published online 2020.
Peterman AH, Fitchett G, Brady MJ, Hernandez L, Cella D. Measuring spiritual well-being in people with cancer: the functional assessment of chronic illness therapy--Spiritual Well-being Scale (FACIT-Sp). Ann Behav Med. 2002 Winter;24(1):49-58. doi: 10.1207/S15324796ABM2401_06.
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Cella DF, Bonomi AE, Lloyd SR, Tulsky DS, Kaplan E, Bonomi P. Reliability and validity of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung (FACT-L) quality of life instrument. Lung Cancer. 1995 Jun;12(3):199-220. doi: 10.1016/0169-5002(95)00450-f.
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Related Links
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EQ-5D User Guides -EQ-5D. Accessed March 29, 2021.
IBM SPSS Statistics 21 -España. Accessed October 5, 2017.
Other Identifiers
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PRYES211395OCHO
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id
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