The Effect of the Mobile Application-Based Symptom Monitoring Process on the Symptom Control and Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients

• Published in: Seminars in oncology nursing 2021-06, Vol.37 (3), p.151161-151161, Article 151161
• Main Authors: Öztürk, Elif Sözeri, Kutlutürkan, Sevinç
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breast cancer; Mobile application; Nursing; Quality of life; Symptom reporting
• ISSN: 0749-2081; 1878-3449
• DOI: 10.1016/j.soncn.2021.151161

•Chemotherapy drugs are often used in the treatment of breast cancer. Because these drugs cause many symptoms to develop, it is important to prevent and control them. Uncontrollable symptoms negatively affect patients’ quality of life, therefore, causing patients to stop treatment, decrease treatment dose, and terminate treatment. To not to experience the problems related to the treatment process, symptoms should be evaluated correctly, and as a result, symptom management should be provided and follow evidence-based practices. For this purpose, symptom reporting has recently been using mobile applications. As symptoms worsen over the course of days or weeks, the mobile application reports these as part of the symptom monitoring process and interventions can be started.•In patients receiving chemotherapy, it is common to use mobile applications for reporting symptoms and planning maintenance and treatment applications accordingly. These applications provide many advantages to the patient, health care staff, and health care system because the patient reports the symptoms experienced and helps contribute to the quick management of the symptoms. A study in breast cancer patients in which symptom monitoring was performed with symptom reporting was conducted. More studies that evaluate the symptoms of breast cancer patients through mobile applications are needed. Patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy experience many symptoms. This study set out to determine the effect of the mobile application-based symptom monitoring process on symptom control and quality of life in breast cancer patients. The research sample consisted of 57 patients who applied to an outpatient chemotherapy unit of a university hospital. The patients in the intervention group reported symptoms starting from the first day when they received chemotherapy with Msemptom and until the 15th day after chemotherapy. After evaluation of the daily symptom reports of the patients, the patients were instructed via text message to report symptoms as moderate, severe, or very severe symptoms. After the application, the median of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS)-physical subscale score of the patients in the control group was found to be statistically significantly higher than in the intervention group (P = .028). It was also found that after application, the medians of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer-Quality of Life (EORTC-QLQC30), symptom scale and na