Breast Cancer
Conditions
Keywords
Breast cancer, psychosocial, website, empowerment
Brief summary
The ever expanding breast cancer survivor population urges the health care system to develop (cost-)effective screening and management of convalescent care needs that can be easily implemented in conventional follow-up care. Internet-delivered systems may be well-equipped to meet these demands. The aim of the current study is to assess the effectiveness of a web-based support system. Key features of this system are patient self-screening of physical and psychosocial problems, tailored patient education on reported problems and self-referral to professional care. In this era of high internet usage, we expect that internet is a highly suitable medium to provide tailored support for breast cancer patients and will empower the patient to take control over their convalescence.
Interventions
OTHERWeb-based screening and tailored support
Sponsors
University Medical Center Groningen
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Adult female breast cancer patients (aged ≥ 18 years of age). * Recent completion (≤6 months) of (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy for primary breast cancer * Ability to comprehend Dutch (both reading and writing). * Access to internet (e.g. at home, via family or friends) * Informed consent provided
Exclusion criteria
• Chemotherapy treatment with palliative intent or recurrent breast cancer
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from 6 to 12 weeks follow-up in optimism and control over the future | 6 and 12 weeks | Patients' optimism and control over the future will be measured by the subscale 'increased optimism and control over the future' of the 'Constructs Empowering Outcomes Questionnaire'. The subscale 'optimism and control over the future' represents a single concept/outcome measure. The concept cannot be assessed at baseline due to the retrospective nature of the questionnaire. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from 6 to 12 weeks follow-up in knowledge level | 6 and 12 weeks | Patient knowledge level will be measured by the subscale 'being better informed' of the 'Constructs Empowering Outcomes Questionnaire'. The concept cannot be assessed at baseline due to the retrospective nature of the questionnaire. |
| Change from 6 weeks to 12 weeks follow-up in acceptance of problems | 6 and 12 weeks | Patients' acceptance of their problems will be measured by the subscale 'improved acceptance of the illness' of the 'Constructs Empowering Outcomes Questionnaire'. The concept cannot be assessed at baseline due to the retrospective nature of the questionnaire. |
| Change from baseline to 12 weeks follow-up in quality of life | Baseline and 12 weeks follow-up | Cancer-specific quality of life will be measured by the EORTC QLQ-C30 (version 3.0) questionnaire. |
| Change from baseline to 12 weeks follow-up in psychological distress | Baseline and 12 weeks follow-up | Psychological distress will be measured by the Dutch Distress Thermometer and Problem List. |
Countries
Netherlands
Outcome results
None listed