About this trial
The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of a digital health program called AYA STEPS, which is designed to help adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors manage symptoms and engage in recommended follow-up care.
Eligibility criteria
This trial does not accept healthy volunteersQualifiers
Diagnosed with one of the following cancers: 1) stage I-III breast cancer; 2) stage I-III colorectal cancer; 3) stage I-III sarcoma; 4) stage I-III Hodgkin or non-Hodgkin lymphoma; or 5) stage I-II testicular cancer
treated with curative intent and off therapy (with the exception of endocrine/hormonal therapy or oral targeted therapies used to prevent disease recurrence or progression) for the last three months
1 to 5 years post-diagnosis
Able to speak and read English
Disqualifiers
moderate or severe cognitive impairment
severe untreated mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia, substance use disorder) that would interfere with providing meaningful consent/study participation
Trial design
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
AYA Educational Information
BehavioralAYA-specific educational information is delivered using video conferencing by a clinical psychologist over six sessions. Participants will receive a written manual providing tips for engaging with educational content as well as access to a website specific to the control arm, which will provide written, video, and pictorial information.
AYA STEPS
BehavioralThe intervention provides cognitive-behavioral and patient activation theory-based skills designed to enhance AYA survivors' abilities to manage their high symptom burden and engage in follow-up health care. Sessions with the psychologist will focus on enhancing participants' abilities to apply intervention skills and engage in the AYA STEPS digital health intervention using motivational interviewing, goal setting, and problem-solving techniques. Participants will complete the six sessions over the 12 weeks of the AYA STEPS intervention.
Treatment groups
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
Pain severity and interference as measured by Brief Pain Inventory
The Brief Pain Inventory will be used to assess pain severity and interference from pain across important life domains (e.g., general activity, work, relations with others). This measures includes a body map on which the patient can mark the location(s) in which they are experiencing pain, as well as 8 questions on a scale of 0 to 10 with higher scores indicating worse pain severity or pain interference.
Fatigue as measured by PROMIS Fatigue Scale
Fatigue will be assessed using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Fatigue Scale, a 6-item self-report measure of fatigue. Participants are asked to think about the last week when responding to each item (e.g., "In the past 7 days, how run-down did you feel, on average?"), providing ratings on a scale from "not at all" (1) to "very much" (5).
Emotional distress as measured by PROMIS Depression Short Form
Depressive symptoms will be assessed using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Depression Short Form, an 8-item measure assessing symptoms of depression in the last week. Responses are on a 5-point scale from "never" (1) to "always" (5).
Emotional distress as measured by PROMIS Anxiety Short Form
Symptoms of Anxiety will be assessed using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Anxiety Short Form, an 8-item measure assessing symptoms of anxiety in the last week. Responses are on a 5-point scale from "never" (1) to "always" (5).
Secondary outcomes
Patient self-efficacy for chronic disease coping as measured by Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Illness Scale
The 6-item Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Illness Scale will be used to assess participants' current confidence in their ability to prevent symptoms (e.g., pain, fatigue, distress) from interfering with life. Responses are on a 10-point scale from "not at all confident" (1) to "totally confident" (10).
Patient activation as measured by Patient Activation Measure (PAM)
The PAM is a 13-item measure used to assess survivors' knowledge, skills, and confidence that are central to managing their health and health care. Patients are asked to rate their agreement with statements about their health and health care on a 4 point scale from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree." From these response a total PAM score is calculated on a scale of 0-100, with higher scores indicating higher levels of activation.
Patient self-efficacy for managing chronic conditions as measured by the PROMIS Self-Efficacy for Managing Symptoms Short Form
The 4-item PROMIS Self-Efficacy for Managing Symptoms will be used to assess participants' confidence in their ability to manage symptoms (e.g. during daily activities, in a public place). Items are scored on a 5-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating greater confidence.
General patient self-efficacy as measured by the PROMIS General Self-Efficacy Short Form
The 4-item PROMIS General Self-Efficacy will be used to assess participants' general confidence in their abilities (e.g., to solve problems and persist toward goals). Items are scored on a 5-point Likert scale, with higher scores indicating greater confidence.
Other outcomes
Health care utilization: Chart Review
Health care utilization in the time since study enrollment will be assessed via review of participants' medical records to examine participants' receipt of general health screenings, cancer-related screenings, and follow-up care for late effects, in accordance with the 2024 National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Guidelines.
Area Deprivation Index (ADI)
The ADI will be calculated using participants home mailing addresses. The ADI is an indexed composite of 17 variables related to social determinants of health from the United States Census and American Community Survey that captures socioeconomic disadvantage at the census block group level. The index is reported as a percentile from 0% to 100%, with higher scores indicating higher levels of deprivation.
Health-care utilization: Self-report
Participants' self-reports of their health care utilization since study enrollment will be collected to enhance the study team's ability to obtain chart review data.
Health literacy as measured by Medical Term Recognition Test (METER)
The METER will be used to assess health literacy. Participants are asked to review a list of 40 words and check off those that they recognize as actual words.
Sponsors and contacts
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Duke University
Lead sponsor
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Collaborator