Browsing by Author "Cort, Nicole"

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    QOLP-10. A LONGITUDINAL OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF EXERCISE BEHAVIOR IN GLIOBLASTOMA PATIENTS TREATED WITH TUMOR-TREATING FIELDS
    (Neuro-Oncology, 2021-11-12) Peters, Katherine; Affronti, Mary; Kim, Jung-Young; Patel, Mallika; Johnson, Margaret; Bartlett, David; Cort, Nicole; Lipp, Eric; Iden, Deborah; Broadwater, Gloria; Herndon, James; Landi, Daniel; Khasraw, Mustafa; Desjardins, Annick; Friedman, Henry; Ashley, David M
    Abstract Glioblastoma (GBM) patients can use tumor-treating fields (TTFs) with adjuvant temozolomide (TMZ) to treat their disease. TTFs involve wearing transfixed transducers to the shaved scalp, and the transducers are wired to a battery pack that is either fixed or carried (weighing 2.7 pounds). EF-14 clinical trial did evaluate health-related quality of life with standardized patient-report outcome measures but did not measure exercise behavior. We sought to evaluate the exercise behavior of GBM patients using TTFs. We consented GBM patients who intended to use TTFs with adjuvant TMZ after completion of chemoradiation. After informed consent and before starting TTFs, patients completed a self-administered questionnaire, Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire, to assess exercise behavior/physical function. To calculate our primary outcome of total exercise behavior, the frequency of exercise sessions per week within each intensity category was multiplied by the average reported duration, weighted by an estimate of the MET, summed across all intensities, and expressed as average MET-hr/wk. Prior work has defined that physical function can be compared as < 9 MET-h/wk vs. ≥ 9 MET-h/wk. We evaluated at baseline and up to 24-week exercise behavior in patients with TTFs vs. historical controls not using TTFs. We enrolled 19 total GBM patients, with 14 proceeding to use TTFs. Of the 14 patients on TTFs, seven patients (50%) completed ≥ 9 MET-h/wk of exercise, and this level was maintained 8, 16, and 24 weeks after starting TTFs. Six months after the completion of chemoradiation, mean MET-h/wk was decreased in the TTFs group (n=6) (10.71 sd=7.06) vs. historical controls (n=38) (27.35 sd=46.94). TTFs did not interfere with exercise behavior in our GBM cohort, but when compared to GBM patients not utilizing TTFs, there could be a long-term impact on exercise behavior. More research is needed to evaluate exercise behavior in GBM patients using TTFs.
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    QOLP-28. COMPARING KNOWLEDGE OF AND BELIEFS ABOUT PALLIATIVE CARE AMONG NEURO-ONCOLOGY PATIENTS, CAREGIVERS, PROVIDERS AND A NATIONALLY-REPRESENTATIVE U.S. SAMPLE
    (Neuro-Oncology, 2021-11-12) Johnson, Margaret; Khasraw, Mustafa; Kim, Jung-Young; Cort, Nicole; Herndon, James; Ramirez, Luis; Lipp, Eric; Landi, Daniel; Desjardins, Annick; Friedman, Henry; Ashley, David M; Affronti, Mary; Casarett, David J; Peters, Katherine B
    Abstract INTRODUCTION There is increasing recognition that palliative care (PC) can benefit patients with advanced cancers. However, early referral to PC is not yet a reality for patients diagnosed with a primary brain tumor. We hypothesize that lack of knowledge and/or misperceptions regarding PC by patients, caregivers, or their providers remain barriers. METHODS This is an IRB-exempt, one-time QR-accessible REDcap questionnaire administered to patients, caregivers, and providers at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center between September 2020 and May 2021. We administered 9 questions regarding knowledge and beliefs about PC from the Health Information National Trends Survey 5, Cycle 2: results of this nationally representative U.S. sample are publicly available and used for comparison. RESULTS We had 141 survey respondents: 25 providers, 59 patients, and 57 caregivers. The median patient and caregiver ages were 49 (21-74) and 50 years (24-73), respectively. Caregivers were more likely female (55.2 %) and identified as a spouse or domestic partner (58.2%). Providers, were equally distributed by years of experience. Compared to patients and caregivers, providers reported more baseline knowledge of PC (p< 0.0001, p< 0.0001) and better understood the role of PC in pain/symptom management (p=0.0038, p=0.0087) and social/emotional support (p=0.0044, p=0.0279). Interestingly, most providers (76.0%) disagreed with the statement “the goal of palliative care is to give patients more time at the end of life.” Compared to a general U.S. sample (n=1,162) our patients (n=39) were better informed in only 2 of 9 questions. Whereas, caregivers (n=48) were better informed in 6 of 9 questions. CONCLUSION Neuro-oncology providers were knowledgeable, but a minor gap in understanding the goal of PC was identified. Caregivers were overall more knowledgeable than patients. However, Neuro-oncology patients, had similar knowledge and beliefs compared to a nationally representative sample. PC interventions should prioritize filling knowledge gaps for Neuro-oncology patients.