D-CRSE: Diminishing chemotherapy related side effects through patient education.

person Hannah Dailey Penn State Hershey, Hershey, PA info_outline Hannah Dailey, Shelby A. Labe, Gavin Jones, Joanna Bhasker, Rhea Kanwar, Sonia Hafiz, Madison Crago, Britney Fitzgerald, Daniella Mikhail, Junjia Zhu, Monali K. Vasekar

Authors person Hannah Dailey Penn State Hershey, Hershey, PA info_outline Hannah Dailey, Shelby A. Labe, Gavin Jones, Joanna Bhasker, Rhea Kanwar, Sonia Hafiz, Madison Crago, Britney Fitzgerald, Daniella Mikhail, Junjia Zhu, Monali K. Vasekar Organizations Penn State Hershey, Hershey, PA, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, Penn State Cancer Institute - Milton S Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, Penn State Cancer Institute, Hershey, PA Abstract Disclosures Research Funding No funding received None. Background: Patient (pt) education materials regarding self-management of cytotoxic chemotherapy related side effects are lacking at Penn State Cancer Institute (PSCI), resulting in patients using disreputable sources. We created a brochure that educates patients on common side effects, tools to address the problems themselves, information on when to contact their oncologist, and guidance on when to visit the ED. The aim of our pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility at PSCI and subsequently improve pt related outcomes and quality of life through pt education. Methods: Chemotherapy naïve pts with breast or gastrointestinal (GI) cancer were enrolled from November 2021-December 2022. At the baseline visit, pts were consented, given the brochure and asked to complete surveys. The Emotional Thermometer Scale (ETS) evaluates mental health, measuring distress, anxiety, depression, and anger while the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS) evaluates symptoms commonly seen with chemotherapy. MSAS means were also broken down into physical, psychological, and global distress index (GDI) subsets. Pts filled out the same surveys at their 6 and 12 week visits to assess change over time. Results: 40 pts completed the baseline surveys, and 36 of them had at least one additional visit. Some key demographics were: 82.2% female, 17.8% male, 22.2% GI cancer (71.4% colonic adenocarcinoma, 14.3% rectal adenocarcinoma, 14.3% anal squamous cell carcinoma), 77.8% breast cancer (81.8% ductal carcinomas, 9.1% lobular carcinomas, 9.1% invasive metaplastic carcinoma, 52.5% ER+, 42.5% PR+, 22.5% HER2+), and 27.5% of patients underwent concurrent therapies with chemotherapy. Table 1 summarizes the mean score comparisons from baseline to 6 and 12 weeks for the ETS and MSAS. We observed significantly decreased psychological symptoms at week 12 compared to baseline (p = 0.023), while physical symptoms did not change significantly (p = 0.21). Conclusions: We successfully conducted a pilot study distributing a standardized educational brochure, thus demonstrating feasibility of this intervention. Measured psychological symptoms decreased over time, while physical symptoms did not, which aligns with side effect progression from cumulative chemotherapy burden. We plan to expand standardized pt education materials to other cancer types, incorporate digital educational tools, and further explore pt education barriers. Clinical trial information: NCT04694794. Mean score comparison n P-value ETS: baseline vs 6 weeks 2.4 to 1.7 35 0.0014* ETS: baseline vs 12 weeks 2.4 to 1.3 25 0.0001* Total MSAS: baseline vs 6 weeks 0.5 to 0.9 35 0.31 Total MSAS: baseline vs 12 weeks 0.5 to 0.8 25 0.38 Physical MSAS: baseline vs 6 weeks 0.6 to 1 35 0.0007* Physical MSAS: baseline vs 12 weeks 0.6 to 0.8 25 0.21 Psychological MSAS: baseline vs 6 weeks 1.1 to 1 35 0.25 Psychological MSAS: baseline vs 12 weeks 1.1 to 0.7 25 0.023* GDI MSAS: baseline vs 6 weeks 1 to 1.1 35 0.28 GDI MSAS: baseline vs 12 weeks 1 to 0.9 25 0.51

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