ePRO Monitoring During Radiotherapy
PROM, head and neck cancer, Cancer
HEAD AND NECK CANCER, CANCER
Patients in both trial arms received weekly physician appointments during the course of their outpatient treatment and additional appointments if they were medically indicated for the monitoring and treatment of symptoms occurring during radiotherapy. Patients in the experimental arm were additionally monitored by collecting daily PROs during outpatient treatment. General and disease-specific quality of life as well as treatment-related symptoms were investigated by a dedicated mobile app (myoncare, Oncare GmbH) on a departmental mobile device immediately prior to each radiotherapy fraction. PROM items were taken from the head and neck cancer module (H&N35) questionnaire developed and validated by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) [All patients in the experimental arm were asked about their need for a physician appointment on a daily basis through the app, and patients in the standard-of-care arm were offered daily physician appointments, if necessary, by the radiotherapist, as per institutional standards. No direct therapeutic measures were taken based on the collected ePROs, and all interventions were only indicated by the treating physician after a physical appointment in both treatment arms. Prior to inclusion in the experimental arm, all patients received an introductory session for the app by a study nurse.