Assessing the impact of a self-guided digital intervention for fear of cancer recurrence (iConquerFear) in ovarian cancer survivors: a pilot randomised waitlist-controlled trial.
Verena S Wu, Allan 'Ben' Smith, Hayley Russell, Adeola Bamgboje-Ayodele, Lisa Beatty, Alison Pearce, Haryana Dhillon, Joanne Shaw, Jan Antony, Joanna Fardell, Anupama Pangeni, Cyril Dixon, Orlando Rincones, Laura Langdon, Daniel Costa, Afaf Girgis
{"title":"Assessing the impact of a self-guided digital intervention for fear of cancer recurrence (iConquerFear) in ovarian cancer survivors: a pilot randomised waitlist-controlled trial.","authors":"Verena S Wu, Allan 'Ben' Smith, Hayley Russell, Adeola Bamgboje-Ayodele, Lisa Beatty, Alison Pearce, Haryana Dhillon, Joanne Shaw, Jan Antony, Joanna Fardell, Anupama Pangeni, Cyril Dixon, Orlando Rincones, Laura Langdon, Daniel Costa, Afaf Girgis","doi":"10.1186/s12885-025-13639-6","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Approximately 50% of ovarian cancer (OC) survivors report fear of cancer recurrence/progression (FCR/P) as the most challenging aspect of living with cancer. This pilot, randomised waitlist-controlled trial aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of iConquerFear, a self-guided online FCR intervention for OC survivors.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Stage I-III OC survivors were recruited via Ovarian Cancer Australia (OCA) between October-December 2022. Participants were randomised to access iConquerFear immediately (intervention) or after 8 weeks (waitlist-control). Primary outcomes were feasibility, acceptability, and safety. Secondary outcomes included: engagement barriers/enablers, perceived impact of iConquerFear, and suggested improvements via semi-structured interviews. Exploratory outcomes included group differences in FCR and FoP after iConquerFear use.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of 62 eligible survivors, 55 (61%) were randomised (intervention n = 29; control n = 26). At baseline 55% (30/55) reported severe FCR (FCRI-SF ≥ 22). Of those randomised, 51% (n = 28) accessed iConquerFear; 16/28 (57%) users completed ≥ 3/5 modules. Mean post-intervention acceptability score (IEUQ) was 3/4 (SD = 0.8). Three (11%) users withdrew due to distress from iConquerFear. Qualitative interviews (n = 13) identified 6 key themes (e.g., participant factors influencing engagement). Differences between intervention and control group changes in FCR/P were non-significant.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>iConquerFear does not appear appropriate for OC survivors in its current format due to limited engagement, varied acceptability, safety concerns and minimal group differences in FCR/P after iConquerFear use. More work is needed regarding how to augment online interventions addressing sensitive issues such as FCR/P in OC survivors (e.g., offering complementary in-person support) to ensure feasibility, acceptability and safety.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>This trial is registered with ANZCTR.org (ACTRN12622000592741p) on 21 April 2022.</p>","PeriodicalId":9131,"journal":{"name":"BMC Cancer","volume":"25 1","pages":"527"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11929991/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"BMC Cancer","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-025-13639-6","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ONCOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Approximately 50% of ovarian cancer (OC) survivors report fear of cancer recurrence/progression (FCR/P) as the most challenging aspect of living with cancer. This pilot, randomised waitlist-controlled trial aimed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and safety of iConquerFear, a self-guided online FCR intervention for OC survivors.
Methods: Stage I-III OC survivors were recruited via Ovarian Cancer Australia (OCA) between October-December 2022. Participants were randomised to access iConquerFear immediately (intervention) or after 8 weeks (waitlist-control). Primary outcomes were feasibility, acceptability, and safety. Secondary outcomes included: engagement barriers/enablers, perceived impact of iConquerFear, and suggested improvements via semi-structured interviews. Exploratory outcomes included group differences in FCR and FoP after iConquerFear use.
Results: Of 62 eligible survivors, 55 (61%) were randomised (intervention n = 29; control n = 26). At baseline 55% (30/55) reported severe FCR (FCRI-SF ≥ 22). Of those randomised, 51% (n = 28) accessed iConquerFear; 16/28 (57%) users completed ≥ 3/5 modules. Mean post-intervention acceptability score (IEUQ) was 3/4 (SD = 0.8). Three (11%) users withdrew due to distress from iConquerFear. Qualitative interviews (n = 13) identified 6 key themes (e.g., participant factors influencing engagement). Differences between intervention and control group changes in FCR/P were non-significant.
Conclusions: iConquerFear does not appear appropriate for OC survivors in its current format due to limited engagement, varied acceptability, safety concerns and minimal group differences in FCR/P after iConquerFear use. More work is needed regarding how to augment online interventions addressing sensitive issues such as FCR/P in OC survivors (e.g., offering complementary in-person support) to ensure feasibility, acceptability and safety.
Trial registration: This trial is registered with ANZCTR.org (ACTRN12622000592741p) on 21 April 2022.
期刊介绍：
BMC Cancer is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of cancer research, including the pathophysiology, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancers. The journal welcomes submissions concerning molecular and cellular biology, genetics, epidemiology, and clinical trials.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
