Personalized Survivor Care Plan for Oral Cancer Patients-Effects on Physical-Psychological Functions and Return-to-Work

Summary

Background: Due to the complex treatment modalities and long-term side effects, oral cancer (OC) patients might suffer from psychological and physical distress and be unable to return to work (RTW).

Purposes: This is a two-phase study. First, the investigator aims to validate a scale about OC patients' perception of RTW and identify those concerns in RTW. Second, the investigator aims to (1) develop the contents of a "Personalized Survivorship Care Plan- Oral Cavity Cancer (PSCP-OC)" and (2) examine the short and long-term effects of PSCP-OC on patients' physical function (symptoms, muscle strengths, fitness, nutrition status), psychological distress (depression, fear of cancer recurrence) and RTW.

Method: First phase, the investigator will modify and validate the "Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ)" with adding the head and neck cancer specific items (modified IPQ-mHN) to assess the barriers of RTW in OC patients. The investigator will recruit 300 subjects in this phase to test the IPQ-mHN psychometrics. The second and third year will develop and test the PSCP-OC intervention. Eligible subjects will be (1) newly diagnosed OC patients with surgery, and (2) who are at work in time of diagnosis. A stratified randomization by cancer stage would be conducted. Both groups will receive baseline assessment before first intervention. PSCP-OC is a 6-month intervention which includes two parts: General module and Personalized module (150 subjects for each group). Ex group will receive the first PSCP-OC before discharge and 3 times face-to-face PSCP-OP once a month in the first three month after discharge and 3 times telephone physical-psycho-education interventions in month 4-6. Control group will receive regular and cancer case manager cares for 6 months. Each group will be followed for 12 months and assess of their outcomes at 6 time points: baseline (pre-discharge) and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Outcomes will be evaluated by physical distress, muscle strength, nutrition status, and length of time of RTW since completion of last major treatment. Results would be analyzed mainly by GEE. IRB approval will be received before the RCT.

Expected Outcome: Expecting to develop a scale to identify those barriers preventing OC patients' RTW and further to test the PSCP. A promising result will further apply into clinical care to prevent or decrease the potential declined physical and psychological functions, increase their strength and help them RTW.

Conditions

• Oral Cancer

Interventions

COMBINATION_PRODUCT

Personalized Survivor Care Plan (PSCP)

Based the above literature review and our previous 10 years' efforts in OC patients' distress and care needs survey, we categorize OC patients' distress and needs into 6 major dimensions (1) symptoms management and dysfunction prevention (different kind of symptom, such as swallowing difficulty, eating difficulty, speaking difficulty, difficulty in opening mouth/trismus, shoulder dysfunction, mucositis, pain, fatigue, etc), (2) enhancing physical function (exercise skills, types for major parts of muscle training), (3) Confronting and dealing with psychological distress (fear, anxiety, depression, uncertainty), (4) nutrition assessment and counseling, (5) Social connection and RTW counseling (attitudes and skills for returning to work), and (6) overall needs assessment and supports.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Taiwan University Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Yeur-Hur Lai, Professor · School of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-12-01

Primary Completion

2020-07-31

Completion

2020-07-31

Countries

• Taiwan

Study Locations