The Efficacy of Software to Help Patients Understand Drug for Adjuvant Treatment for Breast Cancer: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

The Efficacy of Software to Help Patients Understand Drug for Adjuvant Treatment for Breast Cancer: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. Acta Med Okayama. 2020 Apr;74(2):95-101 Authors: Kuba S, Yamanouchi K, Morita M, Sakimura C, Inamasu E, Hatachi T, Otsubo R, Matsumoto M, Yano H, Miyamoto J, Sato S, Nakagawa H, Kanetaka K, Takatsuki M, Nagayasu T, Eguchi S Abstract We assessed the usefulness of ChemoCalc, a software package for calculating drug costs, in helping patients understand these costs. We randomly assigned, in a 1 : 1 ratio, 20 women who had undergone surgery for early breast cancer to a group that discussed adjuvant treatment with their physicians using the ChemoCalc software (ChemoCalc group) or a group that discussed adjuvant treatment without ChemoCalc (Usual Explanation group). The participants completed a five-grade evaluation questionnaire after these discussions. The primary endpoint was the intergroup comparison of the questionnaire scores regarding participants' understanding of their treatment-associated drug costs. Median age was not significantly different between the ChemoCalc group and Usual Explanation group (57 vs. 50, respectively; p=0.27). Patients in the ChemoCalc group had a significantly higher perceived level of understanding of the drug cost than those in the Usual Explanation group (5 [4-5] vs. 2.5 [1-5], respectively; p=0.002). Scores related to the patients' perception that understanding drug cos...
Source: Acta Med Okayama - Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: Tags: Acta Med Okayama Source Type: research