Motivating Adherence to Symptom Reporting Among Patients with Cancer: Pilot Study

Alyssa Donawa, Jeffrey Millan, Luis Millan, Thomas Reeves, Ronaldo Lopez-Tucux, Nazila Shafagati, Ruta Arays, Ralph Zinner, Corey E. Baker

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Keywords: mobile health, mHealth, cancer patients, adherence, symptom-reporting, patient-reported outcomes, user studies

Abstract: Incorporating mobile health (mHealth) into cancer care holds growing promise for improving quality and access, especially in rural and disadvantaged populations, who continue to face disparities in distress prevalence and healthcare engagement. Regardless, sustained engagement with mHealth solutions remains challenging due to motivational, technical, and usability barriers. We developed and piloted a HIPAA-compliant mHealth app, Assuage, in a 45-day longitudinal study with seven cancer patients, the majority from rural backgrounds. Participants alternated between daily and every-other-day symptom reporting. Our findings reflect adherence trends across reporting frequencies, stable and favorable system usability measures before and after the study, and qualitative insights about participants’ willingness to use mHealth for symptom self-reporting.

Track: 9. Human-centered design for digital healthcare and computational health

NominateReviewer:

Alyssa Donawa,
Rodrigo Aguilar,
Jeffrey Millan,
Thomas Reeves,
Ronaldo Lopez-Tucux

Submission Number: 125