NL
Last March, the 'patient preference trial' on the effect of CMyLife, a digital care platform for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients, was published in the BMC Health Services Research. The 'patient preference trial' involved a collaborative project between the departments of Hematology and IQ Health at Radboudumc.
The effectiveness of CMyLife had been studied in terms of information provision, patient self-efficacy, medication adherence, monitoring of blood values and quality of life.
The two most important factors determining the success of treatment in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) are adequate medication adherence and monitoring of blood values according to the guideline. Both factors still appear suboptimal, and guideline adherence appears to be lower in hospitals less experienced in treating CML patients. The CMyLife platform is an eHealth innovation, co-created with and for CML patients, with the goal of improving their care, leading to a higher quality of life and the possibility of hospital-free care. To this end, the effectiveness of CMyLife was investigated in terms of information provision, patient self-efficacy, medication adherence, monitoring of blood values according to the guideline and quality of life. PhD student Lynn Verweij (Hematology, Radboudumc) and Prof. Dr. Rosella Hermens (IQ Health, Radboudumc) were involved in this study.
The effectiveness of CMyLife was investigated using a "patient preference trial. Patients were allowed to choose whether they wanted to use CMyLife or not. After completing a questionnaire at the beginning of the study, participants used CMyLife actively (intervention group) or not actively (questionnaire group) for at least six months, after which they completed another questionnaire. Scores between the intervention group and the questionnaire group were compared regarding change within the subject between baseline and post-measurement using Generalized Estimating Equation models.
At the start of the study, 33 patients were included in the questionnaire group and 75 in the intervention group. Knowledge of online health information improved significantly with active use of CMyLife and patients felt more self-efficacious. No significant improvements were found regarding medication adherence and monitoring of blood values according to the guideline, which were already excellent. Self-reported effectiveness showed that patients felt that using CMyLife improved their medication adherence and helped them keep track of monitoring their blood values according to the guideline. Patients who used CMyLife reported more symptoms but were better able to manage them.
As hospital-free care proved feasible during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, eHealth-based innovations such as CMyLife may be a solution to maintain quality of care and make current oncology health care sustainable.
Read the publication here: Verweij, L., Ector, G. I., Smit, Y., van Vlijmen, B., van der Reijden, B. A., Hermens, R. P., & Blijlevens, N. M. (2023). Effectiveness of digital care platform CMyLife for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia: results of a patient-preference trial. BMC Health Services Research, 23(1), 228.