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William J. Gradishar, MD, FACP, FASCO
William J. Gradishar, MD, FACP, FASCO
Posted: Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Managing chemotherapy side effects through self-care is key to maintaining the quality of life of women with breast cancer undergoing treatment. Recent advancements in technology have given rise to chatbot platforms, automated text-messaging tools that provide patients with real-time information in response to inquiries. However, understanding the clinical impact of this technology versus the traditional face-to-face contact with nurses is not well understood. In an article published in BMC Nursing, Eman Ghallab, PhD, of Alexandria University, Egypt, and colleagues explored the effectiveness of self-care behaviors and the severity, frequency, and distress of chemotherapy side effects among women exposed to chatbot education (referred to as ChemoFreeBot) compared with nurse-led education and routine care.
“ChemoFreeBot can be an empowering tool to assist nurses to educate women with breast cancer and allow women to take an active role in managing their symptom,” the investigators commented.
A total of 150 women, 20 years or older, from a chemotherapy daycare center within El Beheira Governorate, Egypt, were included in this study. Women were randomly assigned to one of three groups: the ChemoFreeBot group (received an interactive chatbot link), the nurse-led education group (received face-to-face education at their initial chemotherapy session), and the routine-care group (received general knowledge in their chemotherapy session). The self-care behaviors across each group and the ChemoFreeBot’s usability were then assessed.
Overall findings revealed a statistically significant group effect and interaction effect of group by time. The post hoc analysis showed that women in the ChemoFreeBot group reported less frequent, less severe, and less distressing physical and psychological symptoms and had the highest effectiveness of self-care behaviors among the other groups after intervention (P < .001). Additional results from the usability questionnaire revealed that women reported their inquiries were well understood and the responses were relevant to the questions they were asking.
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
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