Summary
Background and Objectivs: Survivors of pediatric and adolescent cancer are at an increased risk of chronic
and debilitating health conditions and require life-long specialized care. Stand-alone
electronic personal health records (ePHRs) may aid their self-management. This analysis
characterizes young adult survivors and parents who meaningfully use an ePHR, Cancer
SurvivorLinkTM, designed for survivors of pediatric and adolescent cancer.
Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of patients seen at a pediatric survivor
clinic for annual survivor care. Young adult survivors and/or parent proxies for survivors
<18 years old who completed ePHR registration prior to their appointment or within
90 days were classified as registrants. Registrants who uploaded or downloaded a document
and/or shared their record were classified as meaningful users.
Results: Overall, 23.7% (148/624) of survivors/parents registered and 38% of registrants used
SurvivorLink meaningfully. Young adult registrants who transferred to adult care during
the study period were more likely to be meaningful users (aOR: 2.6 (95% CI: 1.1, 6.1))
and used the ePHR twice as frequently as those who continued to receive care in our
institution’s pediatric survivor clinic. Among survivors who continued to receive
care at our institution, being a registrant was associated with having an annual follow-up
visit (aOR: 2.6 (95% CI: 1.2, 5.8)).
Conclusions: While ePHRs may not be utilized by all survivors, SurvivorLink is a resource for
a subset and may serve as an important bridge for patients who transfer their care.
Using SurvivorLink was also associated with receiving recommended annual survivor
care.
Keywords
Pediatric cancer survivor - SurvivorLink - electronic personal health record - transition
- survivorship