Online Program

Oral

This session will describe how patient-reported outcome (PRO) surveillance data can improve cancer control, cancer care, and understanding of the determinants of cancer outcomes such as area-level factors. The session will designate the areas of cancer control where PROs can best contribute. Three papers will present different approaches to cancer PRO surveillance. (1) The first approach designs projects specifically to capture PRO surveillance data and will be illustrated by the Patient Reported Outcomes Symptoms and Side Effects Study (PROSSES). This registry-based system collects patient perceptions of symptom care around the time of treatment at community cancer centers. Participating centers receive quality improvement reports. Variations in outcomes among centers suggest quality of cancer symptom care may vary geographically. (2) The second approach links existing PRO survey data with cancer registry data, illustrated by the linkage between data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results cancer registries and the Medicare Health Outcomes Study (SEER-MHOS). SEER-MHOS provides longitudinal PRO data on individuals ≥65 years with and without a history of cancer, enrolled in Medicare Advantage Organizations. The linkage permits multilevel analyses of predictors of PROs at the region and health plan level. (3) The third approach identifies cancer survivors within existing population-based surveys. This will be illustrated by the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which periodically includes cancer-focused content that enables population-level surveillance of key cancer-related PROs. Research examples will include studies of rural-urban disparities among cancer survivors. The contrasting benefits and challenges of these approaches will be discussed. A list of existing PRO surveillance datasets and their geographic variables will be described. Future directions including how PRO surveillance data can improve understanding of area-level variation in population health and well-being and the potential for electronic PRO surveillance will be discussed.

Session Objectives: Describe patients’ perceptions of cancer symptom care and how this data can contribute to cancer control and cancer care. Assess existing methodology and findings and describe future opportunities for conducting patient-reported outcomes surveillance research using the SEER-MHOS data linkage Evaluate the use and describe the strengths and weaknesses of the National Health Interview Survey for conducted patient-reported outcome surveillance in cancer survivors.