Psychological, Physical and Functional Importance of Patient Reported Outcomes Among Cancer Outpatients

Introduction:

There has been increased interest in patient-reported outcomes (PROs) as they allow consistent monitoring of patients' symptoms and quality of life. We evaluated the prevalence of PROs among cancer outpatients. Our objective was to look at the association of ET components with demographic and disease characteristics.

Methods:

PROs were prospectively collected cross sectional data which were later mixed with retrospectively obtained clinical data from the EMR. Predictors of ET components were determined by linear regression analysis. The predictors of those who required Help was determined by logistic regression.

Results:

The mean age was 58 (±14) years. 54% were male. The common cancer diagnoses were breast 17%, hematological (Leukemia) 17% and lymphoma 12%. Only a minority (7%) of participants required help (N = 1076) with the tablet-based surveys. Age categories ≤ 30 and 51-70 scored lower in mean depression ET. African Americans had a higher mean ET Anger scale. African Americans scored higher in mean need of Help -ET. Age 31-50 years was at 13% lower risk and 51-70 years was at 72% lower risk. Those with self-care problems were at higher risk of requiring Help with tablet computer.

Conclusions:

Many cancer patients visiting the cancer center had high pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression, problems with usual activities and mobility problems. Younger patients (31-50 years) had more distress and depression (ET). African Americans reported more problems with mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression (EQ5D). Those with self-care problems were at risk to require help with tablet-based surveys.