Real-time clinical application of quality-of-life assessment in advanced lung cancer.
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Date
2003-12-05
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Abstract
In the management of advanced non small cell lung cancer NSCLC quality of life QOL is a very important consideration when determining therapy However clinicians and patients generally make their treatment decisions based upon informal appraisal of QOL rather than formal assessment Previously we showed that Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Lung FACT L data were highly prognostic of survival in advanced NSCLC suggesting the potential value of FACT L scores for treatment decision making A key barrier is the impracticality and burden of real time administration and scoring of paper forms in the clinic Handheld and touch screen computer administration and scoring can address that barrier This pilot study assessed the feasibility of using computer technology to aid in the collection and interpretation of QOL and selected clinical data in real time reducing human effort The technology was found to be acceptable to patients and staff and feasible within the clinical setting Integrating formal QOL assessment into treatment decision making in a clinical oncology setting requires further evaluation
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Keywords
Facility-based health worker, Access to information or data, Quality of care, Efficiency, Workflow management, Planning and coordination, Acceptability, Feasibility, Provider work planning and scheduling, Electronic decision support, Disease diagnosis / Point-of-care diagnostics, Decision support algorithm