Only 59% of women with breast cancer (BC) treated with Endocrine Therapy (ET) remain compliant one year upon initial prescription, despite its proven effectiveness in reducing recurrence and improving survival. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in BC has been widely studied and the positive effects of its routine evaluation on the improvement of communication between patients and medical staff and survival have been highlighted. Recently, a link between HRQoL and compliance with ET has been suggested, which would suggest a potential role for HRQoL assessment in improving compliance with ET. With the advent of digital technologies, electronic collection of HRQoL on a tablet is now possible. Since compliance is a multidimensional phenomenon, a multifaceted intervention is necessary to improve it. Thus, the investigators hypothesize that systematic HRQoL assessment (using a tablet, prior to each consultation, with delivery of scores to clinicians) coupled with therapeutic information could have an impact on 12-month compliance with ET in patients with non-metastatic BC.
In this study, 342 women with non-metastatic hormone receptor positive breast cancer with an indication for treatment with endocrine therapy will be include. Participants will be recruited at Dijon cancer center (Georges Francois Leclerc- center) in France. This center is specialized in cancer management, therefore clinicians are experienced in patient's HRQoL evaluation and are accustomed to take this criterion into consideration in the routine patient management. The study will be proposed to eligible participants by their doctors (oncologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists). Participants will be included at the time of the first prescription of ET (at the end of the treatments by surgery +/- chemotherapy +/- radiotherapy). Once included, participants will be randomized (ratio 1:1) by minimization and stratified by: age, stage, type of ET prescribed and presence or not of comorbidities, in 2 arms. Participants will then be referred to the clinical research associates, whose role will be to collect participant data (clinical and sociodemographic) in both study arms and to instruct participants in the interventional arm on how to use the Computer-based Health Evaluation System (CHES) software. For participants who wish to access the platform from home, a login and password will also be provided. If needed, clinical research associates will also assist participants to complete HRQoL questionnaires. This information will be collected in the case report form, to take into account the social desirability bias. The intervention will consist of numerical HRQoL assessment using the CHES software before each consultation (with delivery of scores to clinicians) coupled with therapeutic information. HRQoL assessment will be performed at each visit. As the aim of this project is to integrate this intervention in daily clinical practice, it will be performed in agreement with patients' routine follow-up. Participants will complete the questionnaires prior to each consultation, either at home via access to the web portal within 24 hours before consultation, or at the time of consultation. During consultation physician will have access to the results immediately, via the secure web portal, and will be able to discuss them with the participant. Therapeutic information will consist on 3 workshops. Workshop 1, entitled "Understanding the Prescription" will provide information on ET and its benefits. Two additional optional workshops on nutrition and fatigue will also be offered. Every month, a letter encouraging participants to regularly take their medication will be sent. Participants in the control group will follow standard care. Both in two arms, HRQoL will be evaluated at baseline using the FACT-G questionnaire to ensure the comparability of groups concerning HRQoL at inclusion, and again at 12 months. HRQoL assessment will be performed using a traditional paper questionnaire and scores will not be provided to clinicians. Anxiety and depression, social support and participant satisfaction with care will also be assessed in both arms at baseline and 12 months after. Sociodemographic characteristics, medical and surgical history, date of tumor diagnosis, tumor characteristics, previous treatments, participant clinical characteristics at inclusion and at each follow-up visit (weight, height, overall patient condition), concomitant treatment, type of ET received, HRQoL data (FACT-G), anxiety and depression (HADS), social support (SSQ6), treatment modification (change in the type of ET), treatment-related toxicities and their grade will be collected. Participant satisfaction with provided care will be measured. Clinicians' perceptions of systematic HRQoL assessment will be collected via an ad hoc questionnaire. Sociodemographic data and reasons for refusing to participate will also be documented for patients who refuse to participate. Data on patients' withdrawal or death will be documented in the case report form. Reasons for study withdrawal should also be documented. All data from this study will be transcribed in an electronic case report form. A descriptive analysis of participants' clinical and socio-demographic characteristics at inclusion will be performed for each arm. All HRQoL scores will be calculated according to FACT-G guidelines and described according to the arm (interventional arm or control arm). A logistic regression model will be used to assess the capacity of HRQoL to predict 12-month compliance with endocrine therapy. The modulatory potential of social support on compliance will be assessed using an interaction term between the availability / satisfaction of social support that patients receive and HRQoL in a logistic regression model. The modulatory potential of psychological distress on compliance will be assessed using an interaction term between patient anxiety / depression and HRQoL in a logistic regression model. An analysis of missing HRQoL data profiles will also be performed. If a Missing Not At Random (MNAR) profile is demonstrated / suspected, multiple imputation of missing data can be performed in sensitivity analysis, taking into account the variables associated with the occurrence of missing data. As a sensitivity analysis, the investigators will performed a contamination-based intent-to-treat analysis to account for potential cross-contamination between the arms.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
342
Participants will complete the EORTC-QLQ-C30 and EORTC-QLQ-BR23 questionnaires before their consultation via the CHES software. The scores will then be generated and provided to clinicians in a graphic form, describing scores course. Access to CHES web portal will also be open to participants outside consultation time points, to enable them to monitor HRQoL if necessary. Workshop 1, will help patients to recognize and react to the occurrence of possible adverse effects, and anticipate their occurrence through appropriate preventive means. In workshop 2, participants will have the opportunity to express their representations and experiences related to their diet and the consequences of disease and treatments on diet. In workshop 3, participants can describe their experiences of fatigue and how their life is affected by it. Moreover, they can identify possible causes and finally discuss solutions to better this symptom. Every month, a reminder letter will also be sent to participants.
Centre Georges François Leclerc
Dijon, France
RECRUITINGNumber of participants compliant with endocrine therapy as assessed by Morisky Green Levine (MGL) scale
Compliance with endocrine therapy, will be evaluated using the Morisky Green Levine scale (MGL). It has a range of 0 to 4, where 0 is very low and 4 is highest. Patients are categorized according to three levels of adherence: high (score equal to 4), moderate (score equal to 2 or 3) and low (score equal to 0 or 1). Participants will be considered as compliant if they have a high adherence score in MGL scale.
Time frame: 12 months after the onset of endocrine therapy
Number of anxious and depress participants as assessed by Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)
HADS has 14 items rated from 0 to 3 and covers 2 dimensions. Seven questions related to the anxiety dimension and seven other related to the depressive dimension, yielding 2 scores, A (Anxiety) and D (Depression). The maximum score for each dimension is 21. A score of 11 or higher indicates the probable presence of the disorder.
Time frame: at baseline and 12 months after the onset of endocrine therapy
social support as assessed by Sarason's Social Support Questionnaire 6-item (SSQ6)
Social support is measured across 2 dimensions: support availability, through the number of contacts that the patient can count on (0 to 9 people) and quality of support, through patient satisfaction with support received. Each item represents a situation in which the patient may need support. Patient is asked to cite the number of people that she could count on in that particular situation. Concerning the second item, the patient is asked to assess satisfaction with the support provided. The scores are generated according to Sarason's recommendations. A score is calculated for each dimension. Support availability score is calculated as the sum of the number of people available for the 6 items, this score ranges from 0 to 54, with 54 representing the highest availability. The social support satisfaction score is calculated by the sum of the satisfaction of the 6 items. This score ranges from 6 to 36, with 36 representing the highest level of satisfaction
Time frame: at baseline and 12 months after the onset of endocrine therapy
HRQoL data using Functional Assessment Cancer Therapy-General questionnaire (FACT-G)
HRQoL data using the Functional Assessment Cancer Therapy General (FACT-G) questionnaire will be assessed at inclusion in both arms to ensure comparability between groups and at 12 months, to assess the predictive value of HRQoL on compliance to endocrine therapy. The FACT-G instrument assesses 4 HRQoL domains: physical well-being (7 items); social and/or family well-being (7 items); emotional well-being (6 items); and functional well-being (7 items). Respondents use a 5-point Likert-type scale which rates the relevant domain from 0 (not at all) to 4 (very much). From these subscales a global score is obtained. The FACT-G total score vary from 0 to 108. The higher the score, the better the HRQoL.
Time frame: at baseline and 12 months after the onset of endocrine therapy
Patient satisfaction with care as assessed by European Organization Research and Treatment Cancer 33-item Satisfaction with cancer care core questionnaire (EORTC PATSAT-C33) and its module 7-item Outpatient Satisfaction with care (EORTC OUT-PATSAT-7)
The European Organization Research and Treatment Cancer 33-item Satisfaction with cancer care core (EORTC PATSAT-C33) questionnaire and its module 7-item Outpatient Satisfaction with care (EORTC OUT-PATSAT-7) assess perceptions of cancer patients regarding the quality of care received. The EORTC PATSAT-C33 includes 3 sections on the perceived quality of care provided by physicians, radiotherapy nurses/technicians and services/care organization. The first one includes 3 dimensions that address technical skills, quality and quantity of information exchanged and behavior. The second one has 2 dimensions: information provision and reactivity and affective behavior. The third one has 3 dimensions: coordination, interaction with the healthcare team and 5 single items. The module EORTC-OUT-PATSAT7 includes 2 dimensions dealing with convenience of care and transition and a single item on continuity of care. The score vary from 0 to 100. A higher score indicates higher level of satisfaction.
Time frame: at baseline and 12 months after the onset of endocrine therapy
Physician perception regarding the utility of systematic HRQoL evaluation as assessed by an ad-hoc questionnaire
Physician perception regarding the utility of systematic HRQoL evaluation will be assessed using an ad hoc questionnaire derived from the work of Velikova, including the perceived utility and satisfaction of routine assessment HRQoL, reasons for use/non-use and the intention to adopt this assessment in routine care. This questionnaire does not generate a score but give us information on the points mention above.
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 3 years
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