More than half of all new malignancies are detected in elderly patients aged >70 years. The COVID-19 pandemic was especially difficult for elderly patients, as they are the most vulnerable to cancer and COVID-19 infection. During this time, telemedicine has certainly advanced, but its place in elderly patient care has not been fully determined. The ConnectPatientToDoctor research was designed to assess a connected telemonitoring platform for elderly patient cancer care.1
This prospective study was undertaken on patients with cancer aged >70 years at the Bégin Military Teaching Hospital, Saint-Mandé, France. Patients were given the option of filling out a Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0–based symptomatology questionnaire that was tailored to their pathology and treatment. Based on the reported adverse events, an algorithm analyzed the patients’ health status and categorized them into 4 states: Correct (A); Compromised (B); Monitoring State (C); Critical State (D). In cases A and B, the patient was given therapeutic counsel to help manage each of the adverse occurrences that had been documented. The patient was encouraged to call the hospital in the other states (C and D). The main end point was to determine if the elderly patient was compliant with the linked platform. The satisfaction of the patients was a secondary end point.1
Between July 1, 2020, and March 31, 2021, 54 patients were enrolled. The average age was 78 years. Prostate cancer was the most common cancer, with 69% having reached a metastatic stage. Most (70%) patients were compliant and reacted at the expected intervals (every 1 or 2 weeks). In total, 1412 surveys were completed, yielding 529 B-state responses and 145 C- or D-state responses. Outpatient care was used to manage more than 60% of the warnings. Patients were happy in 72% of cases.1
The continued lack of healthcare resources, as well as the rising cancer incidence, underline the need for new ways to ensure that all patients receive the best possible treatment, care, and follow-up. Digitalized healthcare, which encompasses a number of ideas (digital health, telemedicine, telemonitoring, and digital therapeutics), is a viable way to address these demands.2 To prevent further segregating patients with poor and high digital health literacy, it is important for healthcare workers to be aware of the challenges to engagement that the elderly patients face. On a societal level, solutions to improve this issue include increasing Internet accessibility, training digital skills, and boosting social support for elderly patients.3 Elderly patients clearly benefited from the use of this platform in this study. Patients reported feeling less isolated and benefiting from personalized care. The elderly patient care procedure could be streamlined using this type of platform.1
References
- Helissey C, Duverger C, Vanquaethem H, et al. Effectiveness of a digital telemonitoring platform for elderly cancer patient (EP) care. Ann Oncol. 2021;32(suppl 5):S1187-S1188.
- Bouaoud J, Bertolus C, Zrounba P, Saintigny P. Digitalized healthcare for head and neck cancer patients. J Stomatol Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2021;122:434-440.
- Jonker LT, Lahr MMH, Festen S, et al. Perioperative telemonitoring of older adults with cancer: Can we connect them all? J Geriatr Oncol. 2020;11:1244-1249.
