NCT03335189

Feasibility Study of the Advanced Symptom Management System (ASyMS) in Canadian Cancer Patients

Adaptation, Feasibility and Acceptability Study of the Advanced Symptom Management System (ASyMS) Mobile Health Intervention to Reduce Chemotherapy Toxicities in Canadian Cancer Patients

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 84 (actual)
• Sponsor: University Health Network, Toronto · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The Advanced Symptom Monitoring and Management System - Canada (ASyMS-Can) is a remote phone-based symptom management system that prompts patient self-care and clinician telephone triage and intervention based on alerts for managing cancer treatment side effects such as nausea and vomiting, fatigue, etc. ASyMS-Can is an android phone-based application that is given to patients to self-report their symptoms using a patient reported outcome symptom questionnaire and level of severity daily, on a secure mobile android phone, from home or outside of clinics. Based on back-end computations, patients receive automated self-care notifications on their mobile phones with advice on self-care for mild to moderate severe symptoms. The system also in the case of severe symptoms will alert the designated clinic nurse to prompt electronic telephone triage and intervention (yellow alert response in 4 hours or within 30 minutes for severe symptoms-red alert).

Detailed description

In addition, patients can access a self-care library and symptom graphs (detailing trends in individual symptoms experienced) through the ASyMS-Can patient phones. If the incoming symptom reports are of clinical concern, the server software will generate two levels of alerts (amber\& red) that will be sent to the designated nurse, who will receive alerts on a dedicated ASyMS-Can nurse handset (mobile phone). The nurse will view the patient's symptom reports on a secure web page, and contact the patient directly at home by telephone, guided through a decision-support algorithm on the web-based platform to systematize the triage based on the COSTARS guideline, facilitating the initiation of "real-time" clinical interventions. An "amber alert", which requires response within 4 hours, indicates that the symptom(s) are not severe or life-threatening but early intervention might prevent further symptom progression. The second level of the triage alert, 'red alert', will be sent to the nurse for severe symptoms and will require response within 30 minutes of receipt of the alert

Conditions

• Supportive Care
• Cancer

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	ASyMS-Can	Data reported by the participants will be sent to a secure, encrypted clinical central server hosting the risk-alerting algorithms. The web interfaces will provide a clinical portal for the nurses to screen and follow any alerts being triggered, as well as review patient-specific information. Based on these back-end computations, participants will receive automated self-care notifications on their mobile phones. If incoming symptom reports indicate severe adverse effects a designated clinic nurse will receive an 'amber alert', or 'red alert', that will require response within 30 minutes. Nurses will handle alerts during business hours (9 am to 5 pm). After-hour alerts will be sent to the oncologist or nursing supervisor on call as per usual care. Patients will be instructed that clinicians will not receive alerts during the evening hours or night and instructed to follow usual practice of contacting their family physician, or oncologist on call, or call 911, as required.

Timeline

• Start date: 2017-11-15
• Primary completion: 2019-02-28
• Completion: 2019-05-28
• First posted: 2017-11-07
• Last updated: 2019-06-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada