Navigating cancer care through digital dialogue: Analyzing key phrases shared by patients in real-time exchange messages using an electronic patient-reported outcome measure (ePROM).
Authors: Alessandra Menezes Morelle, Paulo Alfredo Casanova Schulze, Matheus Soares Rocha, Pedhro Lennon Cezário Freitas, Simone Bassani Fardo, Lucas Trindade Sales, Carlos Eurico Pereira, Vinicius Agibert Souza, Carlos H. Barrios
Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology (2024)

e13661 Background: Cancer is a complex ailment, giving rise to a myriad of symptoms, side effects, and questions that may arise unexpectedly. There is a growing interest in adopting more efficient approaches for the continuous monitoring of patients, particularly through virtual platforms. This study focuses on analyzing the word frequency in the context of cancer assistance using an ePROM. Methods: We conducted an analysis of an ePROM embedded in a mobile app designed for monitoring patients undergoing cancer treatment. Developed collaboratively by medical oncologists and software engineers, this app empowers patients to document their symptoms, quality of life, emotions, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations. Upon app registration, patients willingly share their data with their medical team, along with essential demographic information. A standout feature is the online chat facilitating real-time communication with the medical team, consolidating all information securely in one place. This patient-centric app is provided free of charge. Our study involved a retrospective and descriptive analysis focusing solely on data related to exchanged messages in the online chat between cancer patients and the medical team. These conversations spanned from February 2022 to January 2024 and included patients referred by physicians recommending our platform. The analysis centered on the frequency of non-technical words used in real-time conversations, clustered into semantic groups. Results: Our findings revealed a total exchange of 470,597 words across 684 conversations over a two-year period. In the healthcare context, the most frequent words were categorized as follows: 1) Seeking in-person assistance (568; 0.12%): hospital (424 mentions), emergency (82), urgent/urgency (51), and primary care (UBS, Portuguese acronym) (11); 2) Doubts regarding anything (979; 0.20%): doubt (694 mentions) and question (285); 3) Non-technical one-word symptoms (5213; 1.10%): pain (1821 mentions), nausea (961), tiredness (514), diarrhea (428), vomit (364), fever (304), cough (221), numbness (197), dizziness (162), insomnia (130), constipation (101), and wheezing (10). Conclusions: Our analysis showed two key insights: first, doubts persist throughout treatment, intertwined with the management of side effects; and second, the burden on patients is substantial, whether stemming from uncertainty about the next steps or the necessity for in-person assistance. Cancer's mental and physical toll underscores the importance of having a readily available team to provide guidance, even on simple instructions. In this light, virtual platforms may represent the future of care delivery. Continuous patient monitoring emerges as pivotal for enhancing healthcare assistance, treatment, and outcomes across various cancer types.