S1473
Interdisciplinary - Patient involvement
ESTRO 2026
Material/Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 110 participants (67 cancer patients and 43 caregivers) at King Abdullah Medical City Oncology Clinics in Saudi Arabia. A validated Arabic questionnaire was administered, assessing demographics, internet use, health literacy, empowerment, and attitudes toward PP. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify predictors.Participants: Eligible participants included cancer patients treated within the past five years or currently under treatment and caregivers who cared for cancer patients in the past five years. A total of 117 were approached, and 110 agreed (response rate 94%). Instrument: A validated Arabic questionnaire (52 items) was adapted from HITEC (2) and Dutch instruments (1). Domains included demographics, healthcare experience, internet use, health literacy, empowerment, and PP perceptions, expectations, and attitudes. Statistical Analysis: Descriptive statistics summarized variables. Multiple linear regression identified predictors of perceptions, expectations, and attitudes toward PP. Significance was set at p<0.05. Results: A total of 110 participants completed the survey: 67 cancer patients and 43 caregivers. Females represented 69.1% and the majority were Saudis (79.1%). Most were aged 35–54 years. Urban residents constituted 82.7%, and 84.5% had government health coverage.Majority of participates has moderate health literacy and empowerment levels (Figure-1, 2) and high expectations toward PP (Figure-3). Perceptions: 52.7% of participants demonstrated high perception of PP functions, particularly access to test results (94.5%) and medication lists (92%) (Figure-4). Expectations: 83.7% reported high expectations. Common concerns included usability (53%) and lack of awareness (56.4%). Attitudes: 81.8% expressed positive attitudes, with 96% agreeing that PPs improve communication with physicians and 95% reporting improved quality of care.Predictors: Empowerment predicted both perceptions (p=0.004) and expectations (p<0.001). Education influenced expectations (p=0.01). Attitudes were influenced by empowerment (p=0.002) and household income (p=0.006). Conclusion: Findings confirm that cancer patients and caregivers in Saudi Arabia expressed strong support for PPs. Empowerment emerged as the strongest predictor of positive perceptions and expectations, consistent with international literature (1). Socio-demographic factors, including age, education, and income, also played roles. Despite positive attitudes, barriers such as usability challenges (3) and lack of awareness remain. Designing patient-centered PPs must involve active participation from patients to ensure usability, sustainability, and clinical impact. Engaging patients in portal design is critical for improving adoption,
satisfaction, and quality of cancer care. References: 1. Van den Bulck SA, Hermens R, Slegers K, Vandenberghe B, Goderis G, Vankrunkelsven P. Designing a patient portal for patient-centered care: cross-sectional survey. J Med Internet Res. 2018;20(10):e269.2. Irizarry T, Dabbs AD, Curran CR. Patient portals and patient engagement: a state of the science review. J Med Internet Res. 2015;17(6):e148.3. Kruse CS, Argueta DA, Lopez L, Nair A. Patient and provider attitudes toward the use of patient portals for the management of chronic disease: a systematic review. J Med Internet Res. 2015;17(2):e40 Keywords: Cancer; Patient Portal; Patient-Centered Care; Prospective Evaluation of Psychological Distress and Quality of Life in Head & Neck Cancer Patients Undergoing Curative Radiotherapy Pranav Nair, Haridas M Nair, Pushpaja K Ullathil, Anoop R Nair, Haripriya Parapparambil Surendran, Vidya N, Shoba Nair, Ajay Sasidharan, Sruthi Kalavagunta, Debnarayan Dutta Radiation Oncology, Amrita Hospital, Kochi, Kochi, India Poster Discussion 532 Purpose/Objective: To prospectively evaluate multi-dimensional patient- reported outcome measures (PROMs)—Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–Head & Neck (FACT- H&N), NCCN Distress Thermometer (NCCN-DT) and Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS)—to characterise the trajectory of psychological distress, symptom burden and quality of life (QoL) in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients undergoing radical radiotherapy (RT), and to determine the optimal timing for supportive care intervention. Material/Methods: One hundred consecutive HNC patients planned for curative-intent RT at a tertiary cancer centre in India were prospectively enrolled. PROM assessments (HADS, FACT-H&N, NCCN-DT, ESAS) were performed at baseline, weekly during RT, at completion, one month and three months post-RT. All patients had access to a supportive-care health worker throughout treatment. A ≥ 2-point change or categorical worsening in any instrument prompted multidisciplinary review (pain and palliative-care physician, psycho-oncologist, nutritionist) and intervention. The proportion requiring intervention, recovery time of scores and the impact on treatment completion and QoL were analysed. Temporal trends were assessed using Wilcoxon signed-rank tests and inter-group
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