OA10.03 Assessing Availability and Demand for Patient-Friendly Resources in Lung Cancer Care: The Patient Perspective

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

11-1-2023

Publication Title

J Thorac Oncol

Abstract

Introduction: Open-access publications and online platforms have led to a growing demand for specialized cancer-related information accessible to all, particularly patients (1-2). Plain language summaries of fundamental cancer clinical trials may be a valuable resource for patients to learn more about their disease and treatment options (3). Methods: To understand the patient perspective, we surveyed patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to assess the availability and need for easy-to-understand resources. Patients were also provided an example plain language summary and asked for feedback. Results: Of the 58 patients who responded, the majority were female (90%) with a median age of 62 years. All patients were diagnosed with NSCLC, most at stage 4 (76%). Most respondents lived in the United States (88%) and were white (88%). The highest level of education reported was a Master's degree (31%). At time of diagnosis, 95% of patients and 67% of caregivers/family members sought additional information about their disease and treatments online. 41% of patients reported that the information they encountered online was very difficult/difficult to understand, and 40% were neutral. Most patients (76%) reported that their oncology provider did not provide them with patient-friendly resources with information about their disease, and 93% of these patients would have preferred to receive such resources from their provider. 55% of patients reported that their oncology provider did not explain the data behind their treatment plan, and 85% of these patients would have preferred to have such information presented in a way they could understand. Feedback on an example plain language summary of the pivotal ADAURA trial evaluating adjuvant osimertinib (Figure 1) demonstrated that 97% of patients found the format of the summary helpful and felt it utilized plain language. The summary helped patients understand the goal of treatment better (91%), recall side effects of treatment better (86%), and understand the data supporting the treatment plan being recommended for a particular patient (95%). Conclusions: Most patients with lung cancer reported a lack of patient-friendly resources. Most patients, caregivers, and family members utilize online resources to learn more about their disease and treatments at time of diagnosis, and would like their oncology provider to explain the data supporting their recommended treatment plan in a patient-friendly manner. Plain language summaries of fundamental cancer clinical trials could effectively address this need, as demonstrated by the positive patient feedback in this study. Larger prospective study is needed to validate our findings. Keywords: patient education, plain language summary, medical communication [Formula presented]

Medical Subject Headings

Hematology

PubMed ID

Not assigned.

Volume

18

Issue

11

First Page

S65

Last Page

S66

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