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A B S T R A C T S
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care. Telehealth in practice is just beginning in oncology: in a
systematic review of telemedicine for patients 60 years and
over, 3 oncology studies were identified out of 68 controlled
interventional studies.
The aim of our study in patients having chemotherapy
was to use a small, user friendly (4 buttons) device, developed
for the elderly, called the Health-Buddy
®
to remotely monitor
patient’s health, during chemotherapy, in their own home.
The intention was that timely intervention could help
manage side effects of chemotherapy and prevent them from
worsening and hence reduce NHS costs. A total of 73 patients
were recruited to the study, 40 females aged 30–83 (mean age
59.4), and 33 males aged 20–80 (mean age 63). Patients had the
Buddy for an average of 5 months. Out of a total of 119,315
responses in total, 1247 of these were recorded as high-risk
alerts, which required healthcare advice. The most common
severe symptoms encountered by patients included fatigue,
pain, emotional distress and severe diarrhea. Patients had
a positive experience of using the health buddy. Our study
shows that the device did provide additional supportive care
during chemotherapy.
Disclosure of interest:
None declared