Improving health care efficiency and quality using tablet personal computers to collect research-quality, patient-reported data.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether e/Tablets (wireless tablet computers used in community oncology clinics to collect review of systems information at point of care) are feasible, acceptable, and valid for collecting research-quality data in academic oncology. DATA/SETTING: Primary/Duke Breast Cancer Clinic.


METHODS
Pilot study enrolling sample of 66 breast cancer patients.


METHODS
Data were collected using paper- and e/Tablet-based surveys: Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy General, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast, MD Anderson Symptom Inventory, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT), Self-Efficacy; and two questionnaires: feasibility, satisfaction.


RESULTS
Patients supported e/Tablets as: easy to read (94 percent), easy to respond to (98 percent), comfortable weight (87 percent). Generally, electronic responses validly reflected responses provided by standard paper data collection on nearly all subscales tested.


CONCLUSIONS
e/Tablets offer a valid, feasible, acceptable method for collecting research-quality, patient-reported outcomes data in outpatient academic oncology.
Abernethy
Amy P
AP
Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Box 3436, Durham, NC 27710, USA. amy.abernethy@duke.edu
Herndon
James E
JE
Wheeler
Jane L
JL
Patwardhan
Meenal
M
Shaw
Heather
H
Lyerly
H Kim
HK
Weinfurt
Kevin
K