Cancer, Carcinoma, Lymphoma, Sarcoma
Conditions
Keywords
Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, Carcinoma, Lymphoma, Sarcoma, Cancer
Brief summary
Adolescents and young adults (AYA) patients experience significant distress in specific areas at diagnosis. The investigators hypothesize that providing developmentally-appropriate AYA-specific psychosocial care, with an individualized multi-disciplinary program will alleviate this distress, as well as improve health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The investigators' primary aim is to evaluate the impact of psychosocial interventions on HRQOL. The secondary aims are to firstly identify the types of psychosocial distress experienced and secondly, to assess the feasibility of implementing a psychosocial screening and intervention program amongst AYA patients newly diagnosed with cancer.
Interventions
This program takes place within one month post-diagnosis of cancer. It will include three info-educational session. After that, recommendations for further consultation with specific healthcare professionals will be made based on the concerns and needs of patients at baseline. Patient will also be given usual care.
OTHERUsual Care
Patients will be provided with an information booklet by the study team on self-management of cancer- and treatment-related symptoms, which is routinely provided by the National Cancer Centre of Singapore (NCCS) after cancer diagnosis. Usual general advice is provided by the medical oncologists during the routine consultations.
Sponsors
National Cancer Centre, Singapore
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
16 Years to 39 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* 16 to 39 years old * Newly diagnosed with any form of cancers * Capable of giving informed consent (by patients or parents, whichever applicable) * Ability to understand and willingness to sign a written informed consent document * Able to speak and understand English * Able to commit to attending the 3 info-educational sessions as well as patient-directed additional visits
Exclusion criteria
* Patients with uncontrolled brain metastasis. * Patients who are unable to commit to attend all 3 info-educational sessions * Patients who are unable to communicate in English.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Extent of symptom burden measured using Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL) | 6 months post recruitment | The Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (RSCL) is a self-report measure to assess the quality of life of cancer patients. It uses a 4-point Likert-type scales (not at all, a little, quite a bit, very much) to measure four domains, namely the physical symptom distress (23 items), psychological distress (7 items) activity level (8 items) overall valuation of life (1 item). The higher the score, the higher the level of burden or impairment. Standardized scores of scales can also be obtained when comparing different scales by transforming raw scores into scores on a 100-point scale using the formula \[(raw scale score - minimum raw score) / (maximum - minimum score)\] x 100 = transformed score. |
| Health-related quality of life using PedsQL 4.0 Generic Core Scales | 6 months post recruitment | Pediatrics Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) is a model used to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in adolescents and young adults by generating a physical health summary score and psychosocial health summary score both ranging from 0-100, whereby a higher score suggests a better HRQOL. It encompasses physical, mental, and social health, the core dimensions of health defined by the World Health Organization, as well as is school functioning to generate pediatric HRQOL. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Patients' distress levels using the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Distress Thermometer | 6 months post recruitment | NCCN Distress Thermometer is a screening tool that measures distress on a 0 to 10 scale, whereby 0 indicates No distress and 10 indicates Extreme distress. The Distress Thermometer also includes a problem checklist to identify problems that contribute to the score. These include practical problems, family problems, emotional problems, spiritual/religious concerns and physical problems that cancer patients may have. |
| Satisfaction Questionnaire | At 3 months from baseline | The satisfaction questionnaire is adapted from a client satisfaction questionnaire incorporating questions about communication with healthcare providers. Patients rate their satisfaction of the info-education sessions - the way it is conducted and content and if their needs have been met on a Likert Scale. This ranges from 1 to 5: with 1 being strongly disagree and, 2 being disagree, 3 being neutral, 4 being agree and 5 being strongly agree. The total score of each individual item is summed up, with higher scores indicating a favourable response to the info-educational sessions. |
Countries
Singapore
Outcome results
None listed