Nutritional Online Information for Cancer Patients: a Randomized Trial of an Internet Communication Plus Social Media Intervention

Abstract

We hypothesized that cancer patients using an Internet website would show an improvement in the knowledge about healthy eating habits, and this might be enhanced by social media interaction. A 6-month randomized intervention was set up. Eligible subjects were allocated in intervention (IG) and control groups (CG). IG had access to the website, and CG was provided with printed versions. All enrolled participants filled in Nutrition Questionnaire (NQ), Quality of Life Questionnaire (QoL) and Psychological Distress Inventory (PDI), at baseline and after 6 months. The difference between post- vs pre-questionnaires was calculated. Seventy-four subjects (CG 39; IG 35) completed the study. There was an increase in the score after the intervention in both groups for the NQ, even if not statistically significant. Dividing the IG into three categories, no (NI), low (LI) and high interactions (HI), we found a decreased score (improvement) in the CG (-0.2) and in the HI (-1.7), and an increased score (worsening) in the NI (+3.3) (p = NS) analysing the PDI. We found an increased score in the QoL both in CG and IG (adjusted LSMeans +3.5 and +2.8 points, respectively; p = NS). This study represents an example for support cancer patients. Despite the lack of significant effects, critical points and problems encountered may be of interest to researchers and organization working in the cancer setting. Intervention strategies to support patients during the care process are needed in order to attain the full potential of patient-centred care on cancer outcomes.

Research on the Applications of Multimedia Technology under the Current Epoch of Internet Plus

“…Build critical resources industry development platform, set power to do relevant industry bigger and stronger, in the industrialization and informatization degree after reaching a certain level crossing into the industrial age of the Internet is an important mission to the China's Internet industry development. The figure three shows the developmental trend of Internet in China [7]. The Internet become the global flow of information domain, is sure to be not only puts forward new challenges to the new international order, and brought plenty of opportunities for new movement.…”

Nutrition therapy for the management of cancer-related fatigue and quality of life: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Abstracts of the full-text records were assessed for eligibility; forty-eight articles were subsequently included for full-text revision, with one article additionally included through reference lists screening of the included articles. A total of sixteen articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review (39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54) , with one intervention described in two separate studies (43,44) .…”

“…Methodological quality scores ranged from 76 % (47) to 89 % (44,54) , with a mean score of 82 %. All fifteen interventions scored a positive score (39)(40)(41)(42)(43)(45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54) for methodological quality on the ADA quality assessment of study relevance and validity (55) . All studies scored high in the relevance of methodological design; however, only one intervention blinded data collectors from the treatment (48) .…”

“…All studies scored high in the relevance of methodological design; however, only one intervention blinded data collectors from the treatment (48) . An intention to treat statistical approach was used in eight studies (53 %) (39,43,45,(49)(50)(51)53,54) , and clinical significance along with statistical significance was provided in ten studies (67 %) (39)(40)(41)(42)(43)45,46,48,(52)(53)(54) .…”

“…The sample sizes ranged from 18 (40) to 358 (39) . The average age of participants ranged from 51•5 (42) to 72•0 years (52) . Studies included participants diagnosed with gastrointestinal (n 3) (39,49,52) , breast (n 3) (41,46,54) , undefined (n 3) (40,42,53) , head and neck (n 2) (43,44,50) , lung (n 2) (45,46) , colorectal (n 2) (49,51) and ovarian (n 2) (46,48) cancer.…”