CN22 - Remote patient monitoring using mHealth technology in cancer care and research: Patients’ perspectives, willingness, and current use

Background

There is an increasing interest in mHealth technologies, such as smartphone apps and wearables, as monitoring tools for patients with cancer during their treatment. However, sparse knowledge is available about perspectives of oncology patients regarding the adoption of these technologies. This study aimed to gain insight on patients’ willingness, perspectives and current use of mHealth tools among cancer patients and survivors.

Methods

Cross-sectional data was collected via a nation-wide survey (n=4196) and semi-structured interviews (n=13). Participants were eligible if they were 18 years or older with a current or past diagnosis of cancer. Descriptive statistics and comparisons among groups were made using Chi-squared tests and logistic regression. The interview guide was developed based on the Technology Acceptance Model.

Results

Of all survey respondents, 3346 (80%) used a smartphone, 2367 (56%) a tablet and 1285 (31%) a wearable. A total of 2927 (70%) respondents were willing to use an app for digital monitoring and 2477 (59%) a wearable for the same purpose. Younger age and higher education level were significantly associated with higher willingness to use apps (p < 0.001) and wearables (p < 0.001), whereas gender, cancer type and travel time to hospital were not. Current use and having heard of apps or wearables were significantly associated to higher willingness to use apps (p < 0.001) and wearables (p < 0.001). In the interviews, the main barriers for use of mHealth included persistent reminders of illness, receiving notifications deemed unwanted, and the acknowledgment that mHealth does not serve as a substitute for human doctors. Conversely, patients recognized the time saving potential of mHealth, viewed active monitoring as non-burdensome, considered mHealth a tool for reducing the patient-doctor communication threshold, and expressed willingness to adopt such a platform if a personal or societal relevance was perceived.

Conclusions

Patients’ attitudes were positive towards remote digital monitoring, showing promising prospects for future research of mHealth in oncology. Our study has elucidated which factors are important for successful employment of mHealth for patients with cancer.

Clinical trial identification

Editorial acknowledgement

Legal entity responsible for the study

The authors.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.