| Title: |
Utility of electronic decision-support tools for patients with head and neck cancer |
| Authors: |
Stringer, Eleah |
| Contributors: |
Kushniruk, Andre W.; Lum, Julian J. |
| Publication Year: |
2022 |
| Collection: |
University of Victoria (Canada): UVicDSpace |
| Subject Terms: |
Oncology; Head and neck cancer; Decision support; Decision aids; Patient oriented research; Health informatics |
| Description: |
Background: Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) carry a clinically significant symptom burden, alterations in function (e.g. impaired ability to chew, swallow, and talk), and decrease in quality of life. Furthermore, treatment impacts social activities and interactions as patients report reduced sexuality and high rates of depression. Patients may suffer undue anxiety because they find treatment incomprehensible, which is partially a function of limited, understandable information. This can be particularly challenging for patients with limited health literacy. Furthermore, a globalized world consisting of cultural differences increases the need to enhance transparent communication of risk. Research on risk literacy and medical decision-making validates that across different cultures, people often have severe obstacles in grasping a host of prerequisite concepts for understanding health-related risk information such as numbers, graphs, and basic medical facts. Patients’ perceptions of having obtained adequate information prior and during treatment are predictive of positive outcomes. Providing patient-centered decision-support, utilizing visual images, may increase understanding of treatment options and associated risks to improve satisfaction with their decision and consultation, while reducing decisional conflict. A scoping review was conducted on electronic, decision aids (DAs) for oncology patients that returned 4217 articles, but only 167 for HNC, with 12 meeting the inclusion criteria. Three themes were identified: (1) both patients and physicians valued the DA; (2) DAs should be visually supported by images; and (3) use of a DA lessened decisional conflict and anxiety while improving knowledge, satisfaction and shared decision-making. This informed the design of a prototype DA. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 survivors of HNC who completed treatment at BC Cancer- Victoria on their experiences, feedback on the utility of a DA, and insights into design features. Thematic analysis ... |
| Document Type: |
thesis |
| File Description: |
application/pdf |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
http://hdl.handle.net/1828/13909; Stringer, E., & Kushniruk, A. W. (2021). Utility of electronic decision-support tools for patients with head and neck cancer: A scoping review. Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, 13(4), 477–499. |
| Availability: |
http://hdl.handle.net/1828/13909 |
| Rights: |
Available to the World Wide Web |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.C20E99CD |
| Database: |
BASE |