A Systematic Review of the Feasibility, Acceptability, and Efficacy of Online Supportive Care Interventions Targeting Men with a History of Prostate Cancer - Beyond the Abstract
defined ‘supportive care needs’ as any requirements for care during and after treatments to help facilitate understanding and inform decision-making, manage symptoms and side
effects, help adaptation and coping, and reduce or minimize functional declines. Overall, the results showed that using online delivery can be feasible and acceptable to men with prostate cancer; however, the field is still in its infancy.
We found 16 studies that met our criteria, among which 10 were randomized controlled trials. The results showed positive trends toward efficacy. However, few trials were large enough to make meaningful conclusions and selection bias was a consistent issue.
The current evidence base also suggests that online supportive care interventions may improve care by facilitating shared decision making and improving follow-up practices. Many decision aids were able to be completed while waiting in clinic or at home prior to an appointment. This allows patients time to digest the information and, by sharing a report with their clinician, be more involved in the decision-making. For clinicians, this means less time devoted to treatment explanation during appointments. A few studies also indicated that using online methods of follow-up, when possible, was just as efficient as office visits. Clinicians spent the same, or fewer, minutes with patients with no perceived reduction in quality of care. These methods may be more cost-effective for both clinicians and patients.
Though preliminary, we also report benefits on psychological aspects of well-being, such as reducing distress, improving stress management and communication skills, and relationship satisfaction. However, activity levels, diet, and sleep behavior also impact QoL (both overall and disease specific) across the cancer continuum and warrants further attention.
This review provides preliminary evidence in modest support of online supportive care programs for men with prostate cancer. Our conclusions were limited by the small number and weak methodological quality of studies found. A consistent call for well-documented, rigorously conducted studies has been noted in previous reviews and is echoed here.
Written by: Cynthia C. Forbes, PhD,1,2 Amy Finlay, BPsychSci, BHlthSc (Hon),3 Megan McIntosh, PhD Candidate3 Camille E. Short, PhD,3
1. Hull York Medical School, University of Hull, Allam Medical Building 3rd Floor, Cottingham Road, Kingston-Upon-Hull, East Yorkshire, United Kingdom
2. School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
3. School of Medicine, Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men's Health, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.
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