NCT03364673

Stepping Into Survivorship: Harnessing Behavioral Economics to Improve Quality of Life in Ovarian Cancer

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 29 (actual)
• Sponsor: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This research study will test whether using wearable fitness trackers with a social incentive, delivered through a game-based mobile health intervention, increases physical activity and quality of life in ovarian cancer survivors.

Detailed description

Nearly 50% of ovarian cancer survivors experience poor quality of life, fatigue, and anxiety after completing surgery and chemotherapy to treat their disease. Moreover, many ovarian cancer survivors become deconditioned during treatment; 40% report significant drops in activity during the year after diagnosis, and only 20% meet the recommended guidelines for physical activity. Interventional exercise studies are urgently needed to determine whether increasing physical activity improves outcomes in ovarian cancer survivors. In other cancers, physical activity improves quality of life and mental health, while reducing the risk of cancer recurrence and death. To date, however, most studies have focused on patients with curable breast and prostate cancers. The effects of physical activity on understudied populations, including ovarian cancer survivors, are unknown. Furthermore, although ovarian cancer survivors report an interest in participating in home-based walking programs, few formal programs exist. Stepping into Survivorship is a single-arm study designed to test the effectiveness of a wearable fitness tracker with a game-based mobile health intervention that leverages social support to increase physical activity in ovarian cancer survivors. At the start of the study all participants will track their daily step counts using a wearable fitness tracker (e.g. Fitbit) to determine how many steps they walk in an average day. Next, they will set an increased step-goal and receive daily, individualized feedback based upon their performance. Participants will also choose a team partner (i.e. family or friend) to receive a wearable fitness tracker and together they will track their steps, earning non-financial micro-incentives (e.g. points, levels, badges) when they achieve their collaborative goals. This game-based mobile health intervention is designed to enhance collaboration, accountability, peer support, and ultimately physical activity among ovarian cancer survivors and their friends/family members. This research is being done to improve participants' quality of life. The investigators hope that the use of wearable fitness trackers with a game-based mobile health intervention will help participants increase their physical activity and improve quality of life.

Conditions

• Ovarian Cancer

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Fitness Tracker	Fitness trackers (e.g. Fitbit) are accelerometers that are worn on the wrist and tracks users' heart rate continuously in addition to steps, distance, calories, and active minutes
OTHER	Social Incentive (Way to Health)	The Way to Health platform is an automated information technology platform that integrates wireless devices, clinical trial randomization and enrollment processes, messaging (text, e-mail or voice), self-administered surveys, automatic transfers of financial incentives, and secure data capture for research purposes.

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-07-20
• Primary completion: 2019-10-31
• Completion: 2020-12-05
• First posted: 2017-12-06
• Last updated: 2023-10-13
• Results posted: 2021-09-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States