<p>Are patient-reported outcomes useful in post-treatment follow-up care for women with early breast cancer? A scoping review</p>

Abstract

Background: Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are frequently used to evaluate treatment effects and quality of life in clinical trials. The application of PROs in breast cancer clinics is evolving but their use to generate real-time information for use in follow-up care is uncommon. This proactive use might help to shift healthcare delivery toward a more patient-centered approach by acting as a screening tool for unmet needs or a dialogue tool to discuss issues proposed by the patient. Aims: This review aims to determine the effects and feasibility of using PROs proactively during follow-up care in early breast cancer. Materials and methods: A systematic search was conducted in January 2019 in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, and CINAHL. Studies that exclusively concerned women treated for early breast cancer where PROs were used as a proactive tool during follow-up were included. Results: The search revealed a total of 653 records and four eligible studies were identified; three of which concerned the use of PROs both as a screening tool and as a dialogue tool, and one study in which PROs were used solely as a screening tool. The studies explored the feasibility of collecting and integrating PROs in the clinic and their ability to detect otherwise unrecognized problems. All of the included studies were prone to bias, but they point to potential benefits in respect of better symptom management in follow-up care. Conclusion: Our search identified a small number of low to moderate quality studies of the proactive use of PROs during follow-up after treatment for early stage breast cancer. The limited evidence available suggests that PROs may be useful for providing a more complete picture of the patient's symptoms and problems, possibly leading to improvements in symptom management.

Satisfaction with care and adherence to treatment when using patient reported outcomes to individualize follow-up care for women with early breast cancer – a pilot randomized controlled trial

“…Furthermore, it has been demonstrated within other Danish diagnostic groups that PRO assessment can be used to evaluate the need for a consultation during follow-up in chronic and malignant diseases and thereby customize the number of consultations needed to the individual [48]. Evidence regarding the active use of ePROs during follow-up care after treatment for breast cancer is limited [49], but advances within electronic software development continue to increase the usability and potential utility of ePROs. These data can be aggregated in clinical databases, used as prognostic markers, analyzed for epidemiological studies or fed back to patients alongside tailored self-management advice [50][51][52].…”

Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures in Abdominal Cancer Surgery and Student-Led Surgical Research

“…PROMs can help to attain a more adequate care of cancer survivors, whose needs often can go unrecognized and unsatisfied. 5 As shown by Dueck et al (2015), the Patient-Reported Outcomes version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (PRO-CTCAE) improves the precision and reliability of the information gathering regarding AEs. The data metrics of reported AE allow for improvements to patients' quality of care, rational funding of clinical research, better design of public health policy, etc.…”

Identifying Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) for Routine Surveillance of Physical and Emotional Symptoms in Head and Neck Cancer Populations: A Systematic Review

“…Depression and anxiety should also be key items in the psychosocial domain of PROMs given its prevalence in HNC. Specific capture of these symptom domains in PROM items could help to identity the impact of HNC and its treatment, thus enabling personalized tailoring of symptom management [130].…”