Abstract P2-12-08: Triaging breast care center patients to supportive care services based on the Athena Breast Health Network online intake form and the patient-reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS)
Authors: Matthys Madeline , Dempsey André , Basu Amrita , Wong Emily , Dreher Nickolas , Acerbi Irene , Ackerson Suzanne , Esserman Laura ,   Athena Breast Health Network Investigators and Advocate Partners, Melisko Michelle , van 't Veer Laura 
Published: March 2020

Background: The Athena Breast Health Network is a multi-site effort aimed at integrating cutting-edge research and clinical care for breast cancer screening and treatment. At the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Breast Care Center (BCC), an Athena-based electronic Health Questionnaire System (eHQS) is distributed to all new patients. This questionnaire assesses self-reported personal and familial health history, comorbidities, and Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement and Information System (PROMIS) quality of life domains. Based on these responses, patients are proactively triaged to genetic counseling, psycho-oncology, onco-fertility, smoking cessation, peer support, nutritional counseling, behavioral sleep, and social work. These referrals are based on pre-defined thresholds, such as Ashkenazi Jewish Ancestry (referral to Genetic Counseling), or PROMIS Depression and Anxiety scores greater than or equal to 9 and 11, respectively. This analysis aims to assess the eHQS as a means to refer patients to supportive care services and assess if high-need patients (those with the highest symptom burden as assessed by quality of life PROMIS scores) are referred to services more frequently.

Patients and Methods: Since Athena’s launch in 2013, over 6,000 patients have completed the online intake questionnaire at the UCSF BCC, 4,984 of whom have consented to research. 3,627 patients completed all relevant data to this study and were used in our analysis. A review of patient referrals was conducted to assess the number of referrals as a result of eHQS completion. PROMIS T-Scores in 8 domains (depression, anxiety, fatigue, sleep-related impairment and disturbance, cognitive function, applied cognition and physical function) were calculated with the Health Measures system and compared across patients stratified by age and cancer type and against the US general population.

Results: When compared to the US population as a whole, PROMIS scores indicate that UCSF BCC patients have impaired quality of life in every assessed PROMIS domain except for depression. As age increases, PROMIS scores across multiple domains (depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, cognitive function) increase, signifying lower symptom burden. Importantly, high symptom burden in the anxiety PROMIS domain was suggestive of lower quality of life scores in 6 out of the other 7 assessed PROMIS domains. 39% (1408 patients) of all analyzed BCC patients received at least one referral to a supportive care service. 721 of 1450 (50%) patients with an Invasive Breast Cancer (IBC) diagnosis and 246 of 571 (43%) patients with a DCIS diagnosis triggered at least one referral. 31% of all patients received a referral to genetic counseling, 16.3% to psycho-oncology, 11% to behavioral sleep, 8% to nutritional counseling, 7.6% to social work, 2.4% to smoking cessation, and 1.6% to onco-fertility. When compared to patients with DCIS or without a cancer diagnosis, patients with IBC are most likely to receive a referral to genetic counseling and psychosocial services. Referrals to supportive care services are less frequent as age increases.

Conclusion: The Athena online intake form at the UCSF BCC effectively triages patients with high levels of anxiety (PROMIS &gt; 8) and depression (PROMIS &gt;10) to supportive care services. Preliminary results regarding the correlation between anxiety and overall poor quality of life suggest that referrals to psycho-oncology may be most efficacious in decreasing symptom burden. Using these analyses, we aim to refine our use of the eHQS to tailor the most relevant and effective referrals to the highest-need patients.

Citation Format: Madeline Matthys, André Dempsey, Amrita Basu, Emily Wong, Nickolas Dreher, Irene Acerbi, Suzanne Ackerson, Laura Esserman, Athena Breast Health Network Investigators and Advocate Partners, Michelle Melisko, Laura van 't Veer. Triaging breast care center patients to supportive care services based on the Athena Breast Health Network online intake form and the patient-reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-12-08.