Novel Smartphone App Helps Reduce Fear of Cancer Recurrence - Medscape

A caller "smartphone psychotherapy" exertion has been shown to relieve immoderate of the anxiousness and fearfulness astir crab recurrence (FCR) that often causes distress to crab survivors.

The involution is comprised of smartphone problem-solving therapy and behavioral activation apps, and was tested successful a survey that progressive 447 survivors of breast cancer.  The results showed that the radical of survivors who utilized the app had statistically greater improvements connected a standard measuring fearfulness of crab recurrence arsenic good arsenic respective measures of anxiousness and depression astatine week 8 erstwhile compared with controls.

"To our knowledge, the contiguous survey is the archetypal to show the efficacy of smartphone-based intelligence therapies successful reducing FCR among bosom crab survivors," the authors comment.

It besides "demonstrated that the involution had imaginable efficacy connected slump and intelligence needs among bosom crab survivors," they write.

"Given the ample fig of crab survivors and the constricted fig of therapists to competently behaviour due psychotherapy, caller smartphone psychotherapy whitethorn beryllium a promising mode to trim fearfulness of crab recurrence," they suggested.

The survey was published online November 2 successful the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Commenting connected the study, Erica L. Mayer, MD, MPH, manager of objective probe astatine the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, noted that "the usage of a caller 8-week cognitive behavioral therapy smartphone app importantly reduced measures of intelligence distress, particularly successful those who expressed anxiousness astatine baseline."

"These findings suggest expanded usage of smartphone-based intelligence wellness enactment is feasible and effectual and whitethorn beryllium an businesslike level to supply intelligence wellness enactment to young bosom crab survivors," Mayer said successful a statement.

Results From Randomized Trial

The survey was led by Tatsuo Akechi , MD, PhD, from the Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine and Division of Palliative Care and Psycho-oncology, Nagoya City University Hospital, Nagoya, Japan.

They had conducted a erstwhile survey successful which they showed that the communal unmet request reported by ambulatory patients with bosom crab was intelligence — and successful particular, a fearfulness of crab recurrence. ( Psycho-oncology 2011; 20:497-505 ). More than fractional of the participants cited these issues, and it has besides been reported successful different papers and associated with mediocre prime of life. In addition, they enactment that though probe supports galore intelligence interventions that assistance survivors with fearfulness of recurrence, 1 occupation is the debased information complaint due to the fact that of clip and region issues (eg, much than 60% of perchance eligible participants diminution participation). Another occupation is that the fig of therapists who tin supply specified specialized attraction whitethorn beryllium limited.

So, the squad developed a problem-solving therapy (PST) programme arsenic a smartphone app. Its acceptability and efficacy was demonstrated successful a single-arm aviator survey with bosom crab survivors (Jpn J Clin Oncol 2019; 49:537-544).

Building connected those results, they present conducted a randomized proceedings to further analyse the efficacy of smartphone-based PST and behavioral activation (BA) interventions successful reducing fears of recurrence among bosom crab survivors.

For this trial, they randomly assigned disease-free bosom crab survivors betwixt the ages of 20-49 years to the smartphone-based involution (n = 223) oregon waitlist power (n = 224). Both groups received attraction arsenic usual, and the power radical could entree the smartphone apps during weeks 8-24.

Primary result information astatine 8 weeks were obtained for 444 randomly assigned participants (99.7% of the full 447 participants). Among the 223 participants who received the intervention, 213 (95.5%) completed the follow-up appraisal astatine week 24.

Their results showed that women utilizing the smartphone app experienced a statistically important betterment successful the superior endpoint, the Concerns About Recurrence Scale (CARS-J) scores astatine week 8 compared to the power radical (difference –1.39, P < .001; ES = 0.32).

The involution radical besides had a statistically important betterment astatine week 8 successful the Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory-Short Form (FCRI-SF) people (difference –1.65; P < .001; ES = 0.25), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) people (difference –0.49; P < .05; ES = 0.19), and the Short-form Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-SF34) intelligence domain people (difference –1.49; P < .05; ES = 0.16).

By week 24, these differences betwixt the smartphone radical and the power radical were nary longer significant, but for HADS slump scores, which were important astatine 24 weeks compared with 8 weeks (P < .05).

The wide restitution with attraction successful the involution and power groups was rated astatine 73.4 (standard deviation = 17.3) and 73.9 (standard deviation = 17.7), respectively, but it did not scope statistical value (P = .26).

The survey was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, and partly supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research and Young scientists from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology; a assistance from Nagoya City University Foundation for Promotion of Cancer Research successful Japan; and The National Cancer Center Research and Development Fund. Several of the co-authors study relationships with industry, arsenic noted successful the archetypal article.

J Clin Oncol. Published online November 2, 2022. Full text

Roxanne Nelson is simply a registered caregiver and an award-winning aesculapian writer who has written for galore large quality outlets and is simply a regular contributor to Medscape.

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