Longitudinal evaluation of Supportive care Prioritization, Assessment and Recommendations for Kids (SPARK), a symptom screening and management application

BMC Cancer

L. Lee Dupuis¹  Brenda Spiegler²  Tal Schechter³  Lillian Sung³  Susan Kuczynski⁴  Emily Vettese⁵  Nathan Duong⁵  Sadie Cook⁵  Hailey Davis⁵  Dilip Soman⁶ 

[1] Department of Pharmacy, The Hospital for Sick Children;Department of Psychology, The Hospital for Sick Children;Division of Haematology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children;Ontario Parents Advocating for Children with Cancer (OPACC);Program in Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning;Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto;

关键词: Pediatric cancer;    Symptom screening;    Supportive care;    Self-report;    Oncology;    Patient reported outcomes;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12885-019-5662-9

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background Supportive care Prioritization, Assessment and Recommendations for Kids (SPARK) is a web application focused on improving symptom control. It enables pediatric cancer and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients to self-report and track symptoms, and allows healthcare professionals to access guidelines for symptom management. Objective was to determine the feasibility of longitudinal collection of symptom data. Methods In this longitudinal, single-armed feasibility study, respondents were children 8–18 years of age with cancer or pediatric HSCT recipients. Participants completed symptom reporting daily for 5 days. Cognitive interviews were conducted on day 5. Quantitative evaluation included SPARK ease of use and understandability of SPARK reports. Qualitative feedback on facilitators and barriers to daily symptom screening was solicited. Feasibility was defined as ≥75% of participants completing symptom screening on at least 60% of on-study days during the five-day study. Results Among the 30 children enrolled, the median number of days SSPedi was completed at least once was 5 (range 3 to 5). Overall, 28/29 (96.6%) thought completing symptom screening using SPARK was easy or very easy. All participants understood SPARK symptom reports. Severe symptoms was the most common barrier to daily reporting while an alarm reminder system was the most commonly identified facilitator. Conclusions Daily completion of symptom screening using SPARK over 5 days was feasible in children aged 8 to 18 years with cancer and pediatric HSCT recipients. SPARK is now appropriate for use in randomized trials to evaluate the effect of symptom screening and symptom feedback.

【 授权许可】

Unknown