E/Tablets to collect research-quality, patient-reported data.

17528 Background: Programmed, wireless, notebook-and-pen style, computers ("e/Tablets") can collect review of systems data at the point of care, for use in the clinic visit. Can e/Tablets deployed in outpatient oncology clinics be used to collect research survey data that are comparable to paper-based data? METHODS: We used PACE e/Tablets (SOS, Inc.) to administer the disease-specific Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT), MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI), and FACT-GOG-Neurotoxicity (NTX) scales. Participants were 113 gastrointestinal (GI) cancer patients in Duke GI Oncology Clinic. At each of 4 visits in 6 months, participants completed all surveys in electronic format and 1 survey on paper. Subscales (electronic vs. paper) were compared using paired t-tests. Patients completed an electronic satisfaction survey. RESULTS: Mean age, 57 (SD 11); 67% male; 80% Caucasian; 47% no college degree; 67% metastatic cancer. Patients strongly supported e/Tablets: easy to read (97%), easy to respond to questions (97%), weight of computer comfortable (92%). Patients reported e/Tablets to be helpful for reporting symptoms (82%), and would recommend them to other patients (88%). After Bonferonni corrections (0.05/10=0.005), survey subscale scores for paper and electronic were similar except for the NTX scale. CONCLUSIONS: Patients are satisfied with e/Tablets to collect survey data. Preliminary results show that e/Tablets furnish comparable data to those collected by paper questionnaires on nearly all subscales tested. These results in GI cancers support our previous breast cancer study results, suggesting that e/Tablets offer a valid, feasible method for collecting research-quality, clinically relevant data from patients in outpatient academic oncology. [Table: see text] [Table: see text].

Duke Scholars

Author Hope Elizabeth Uronis Medicine, Medical Oncology

Author James Emmett Herndon II Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Division of Biostatistics

Author Herbert Kim Lyerly Surgery, Surgical Sciences

Author Michael Aaron Morse Medicine, Medical Oncology