This is a multi-center randomized controlled trial conducted in six palliative care centers in Hong Kong. We included a total of 1,214 participants and they all have advanced cancer and decided not to have further systemic treatments. They were randomized one-to-one into two arms, the intervention arm and the control arm. In the intervention arm, the patient uses the SUPPORT+ app to report their symptoms online weekly...
This is a multi-center randomized controlled trial conducted in six palliative care centers in Hong Kong. We included a total of 1,214 participants and they all have advanced cancer and decided not to have further systemic treatments. They were randomized one-to-one into two arms, the intervention arm and the control arm. In the intervention arm, the patient uses the SUPPORT+ app to report their symptoms online weekly. And after the reporting of the symptoms, the system will give the patient self-management advice. And for severe symptoms, the nurses will call the patient and give them timely support. The primary endpoint is a health-related quality of life. In this study, we found that HRQL is much better maintained in the intervention arm. Compared with the control arm, the HRQL was much more declined. Also, we had the secondary endpoints, including the emergency visits, the self-advocacy, hospitalizations, episodes, and days of inpatient care. We noticed the hospitalization episodes and days of inpatient care were much reduced after using the app. And the patient also had better maintenance of the self-advocacy, that is the self-confidence in taking care of themselves. However, the emergency visits and ECOG performance status were maintained in both arms. So it’s similar in both arms. So the study concluded that using the app, which is an app-based palliative care, can maintain the patient’s HRQL and reduce hospitalizations and improve self-advocacy.
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