Leveraging eHealth Technology for Oral Chemotherapy Management: A Literature Review

Background: Patients prescribed oral chemotherapy (OC) may find adherence and management of side effects difficult. Leveraging technology available to patients, such as smartphones, laptops, or at-home computer devices, may help close the loop on crucial information needed for the safe administration of these toxic medications.

Objectives: The primary aim of this review was to explore the feasibility of standardization of an electronic OC adherence questionnaire to gather patient-reported outcomes. The secondary aim was to determine whether patient-reported outcome measures improve providers’ response times to patient-reported concerns.

Methods: A comprehensive literature review was performed in CINAHL^®, Scopus^®, Open Access Journal Finder, and SocINDEX. Ten articles, from which four themes were synthesized and discussed, were selected for this review.

Findings: Leveraging eHealth using an OC adherence questionnaire to monitor medication adherence, laboratory testing schedule adherence, and self-management of symptoms and disease, as well as providers’ timely response to potential issues, may improve overall health outcomes.