[Acceptance of digital apps in the follow-up of patients with head and neck tumors].

BACKGROUND:Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures lead to improved quality of life in cancer patients and possibly to earlier detection of tumor recurrence. OBJECTIVE:Patient interest in complementing tumor follow-up care with apps for recording PROs was assessed using a questionnaire. MATERIALS AND METHODS:An independently created questionnaire to record the interest of tumor patients in a digitalized form of tumor follow-up care was evaluated (n = 110). RESULTS:In the study, the majority of tumor patients were interested in using an app for tumor disease. Taking age into account, the number increased even further for patients < 60 years of age, as expected. In line with this, human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive patients showed significantly greater interest (p = 0.021). CONCLUSION:The introduction of an app is supported by the majority of tumor patients. In addition to recording PROs, other applications (appointment reminders, patient files, sports/nutrition programs) could also be integrated.