The goal of this clinical trial is to assess the feasibility of offering oncology patients a referral to the outpatient palliative care clinic based on virtual symptom screening before oncology clinic appointments, and to qualitatively explore factors patients consider when deciding to accept or defer a visit to this clinic. Participants will be asked to complete questionnaires assessing quality of life, symptom burden, depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with care at baseline, 2, 4, and 6 months.
To improve equitable access to early palliative care based on symptom severity, the investigators developed Symptom screening with Targeted Early Palliative care (STEP) and demonstrated its feasibility in a previous trial. STEP was designed and tested before the COVID-19 pandemic and was based on symptom screening using tablets/computers in oncology clinics and in-person visits in the palliative care clinic. In response to changes in hospital care as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the investigators developed a novel, mixed in-person and virtually delivered intervention, STEP2. The investigators propose to test STEP2 in a single-arm pilot trial, enrolling outpatients with advanced cancer and a prognosis of 6 months to 3 years. Participants will complete the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System-revised (ESAS-r+) tool electronically before oncology appointments (as is usual care in Ontario, Canada); in addition, if patients report moderate to high symptom scores, they will receive nurse-led triage and targeted referral to specialized palliative care. Quality of life, symptom burden, depression, anxiety and satisfaction with care will be assessed at baseline, 2, 4, and 6 months using questionnaires. The objectives of this study are 1) to assess the feasibility of the STEP2 intervention, including completion of virtual symptom screening before oncology clinic appointments and completing triggered palliative care visits by video as well as in person; and 2) to explore factors patients consider when deciding to accept or defer a visit to the outpatient palliative care clinic.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
40
Study nurse will offer a palliative care clinic visit referral alongside usual cancer care to participants who report moderate to high symptom burden.
University Health Network
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
FACIT-PAL 14
A 14-item version of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) scale, with items that are considered relevant for patients with advanced cancer. Scoring ranges from 0-56 with lower scores indicating better quality of life.
Time frame: 6 months
FACIT-PAL 14
A 14-item version of the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) scale, with items that are considered relevant for patients with advanced cancer. Scores range from 0-4 per item with higher scores indicating worse quality of life.
Time frame: 2 and 4 months
ESAS-r-CS
Edmonton Symptom Assessment System-revised (ESAS-r-CS) measure with eleven scales with anchors of 0 (best) and 10 (worst) for pain, fatigue, drowsiness, nausea, anxiety, depression, appetite, dyspnea, well-being, constipation and sleep.
Time frame: 2, 4, and 6 months
PHQ-9
A 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for screening, diagnosing and monitoring the severity of depression. Scores range from 0-3 per item with higher scores indicating worse depression.
Time frame: 2, 4, and 6 months
FAMCARE-P16
Modified family caregiver (FAMCARE) scale measuring patient satisfaction with information-giving, availability of care, psychological care and physical patient care in patients with advanced cancer. Scores range from 1-5 per item with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction.
Time frame: 2, 4, and 6 months
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7
A valid and brief 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) tool measuring severity of anxiety in patients. Scores range from 0-3 per item with higher scores indicating worse anxiety.
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Time frame: 2, 4, and 6 months
Patient Global Impression of Change
A single-item patient-reported measure assessing change in health status and efficacy of an intervention, and is a widely used clinically relevant tool across many health conditions. The scale ranges from 1-7 and higher scores indicate worse change in health status.
Time frame: 2, 4, and 6 months