RESUMO
To investigate the feasibility of utilizing electronically provided patient-reported outcomes(ePRO)to detect adverse events, we conducted a single-center prospective study targeting patients with advanced cancers who were receiving chemotherapy at our outpatient clinic. Participants were asked to respond to 71 relevant items from the PRO-CTCAE once a week for 8 consecutive weeks. An outpatient nurse evaluated the corresponding items on the CTCAE. Forty of 85 outpatients were enrolled. Thirty-four patients were excluded because of Bring Your Own Device(BYOD)restrictions and 11 were excluded for other reasons, including poor physical conditions. Those without BYOD were significantly older than the study participants(median age: 72 and 66 years, respectively)and were more likely to be male(65% and 35%, respectively). The overall response rate was 77%. The median number of symptoms per participant rated as ≥Grade 1 was 26(range: 0-48) by ePRO and 6(range: 1-15)by the nurse(p<0.01). Among the total number of symptoms detected by ePRO, the percentage of symptoms detected by both the nurse and ePRO was low(median: 4%, range: 0-67%). Symptoms detected consistently by both the nurse and ePRO were alopecia(67%), anorexia(38%), paresthesia(36%), diarrhea(28%), malaise(27%), oral mucositis(25%), constipation(24%), limb edema(24%), pain(22%), and dysgeusia(21%), suggesting that healthcare professionals tend to pay more attention to the symptoms that they think lead to intervention. Our findings indicate that the implementation of the ePRO system in outpatient care may help clinicians accurately recognize adverse events at earlier stages.