Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41920389›Full record

Trial reportQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2026

Quality of life during electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) monitoring in thoracic surgery patients: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Chase E Cox, Allison M Deal, Mian Wang, Brittney Williams, Amanda L Gentry, Caroline Hoch, Courtney Schlusser, Sachita Shrestha, Alix Boisson-Walsh, Cameron Kurz and 9 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04342260 (Improving Quality of Life After Thoracic Surgery Using Patient-Reported Outcomes), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04342260 nacompletednot on this map

Improving Quality of Life After Thoracic Surgery Using Patient-Reported Outcomes

TypeinterventionalSponsorUNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer CenterRan2020 to 2023Enrolled113ConditionsThoracic SurgeryArmsActive Monitoring, Passive Monitoring
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Listening to patients after surgery: are ePRO alerts the missing link?Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

19 authors.

Chase E CoxDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of North Carolina, Burnett-Womack Building Suite 3041 Campus Box 7065, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7065, USA.
Allison M DealLineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Mian WangLineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Brittney WilliamsDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Amanda L GentryDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of North Carolina, Burnett-Womack Building Suite 3041 Campus Box 7065, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7065, USA.
Caroline HochGillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Courtney SchlusserGlaxoSmithKline, NC, Durham, USA.
Sachita ShresthaInstitute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Alix Boisson-WalshDivision of Infectious Diseases, Center for Emerging Pathogens, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA.
Cameron KurzDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of North Carolina, Burnett-Womack Building Suite 3041 Campus Box 7065, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7065, USA.
Mallory HappDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of North Carolina, Burnett-Womack Building Suite 3041 Campus Box 7065, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7065, USA.
Annie BrightUniversity of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Lauren HillDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of North Carolina, Burnett-Womack Building Suite 3041 Campus Box 7065, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7065, USA.
Julia ColemanDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of North Carolina, Burnett-Womack Building Suite 3041 Campus Box 7065, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7065, USA.
Jason LongDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of North Carolina, Burnett-Womack Building Suite 3041 Campus Box 7065, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7065, USA.
Benjamin HaithcockDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of North Carolina, Burnett-Womack Building Suite 3041 Campus Box 7065, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7065, USA.
Antonia V BennettLineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Ethan BaschLineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Gita N ModyDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of North Carolina, Burnett-Womack Building Suite 3041 Campus Box 7065, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7065, USA. gita_mody@med.unc.edu.

Funding

American College of Surgeons American College of Surgeons
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePatients undergoing thoracic surgery experience high symptom burden and negative impacts on postoperative health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Remote symptom monitoring using electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) in other patient populations improves HRQOL but may increase workload for surgical providers. We evaluated the feasibility of ePRO use by thoracic surgery patients and providers as well as its impact on HRQOL.

methodsIn this single center randomized controlled trial, thoracic surgery patients were assigned to either ePROs with alerts to their providers for severe symptoms or ePROs for measurement only, for 90 days after hospital discharge. Primary outcomes were feasibility (measured by patient survey completion) and change in postoperative HRQOL, assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and LC-13 instruments. We also assessed symptom burden, health care utilization during ePRO use, and provider management of alerts.

resultsA total of 113 patients planned for thoracic surgery were randomized to ePROs with alerts (n = 56) vs. ePRO measurement (n = 57) only. Of these, 99 participants were discharged from the hospital using postoperative ePROs. More surveys were completed in the alerting arm (61.9% vs. 52.8%, p<0.001, h=0.18). HRQOL at 2 months (social and role function, summary score) was improved in the ePRO with alerts arm, and emotional function at 12 months was improved in the ePRO measurement only arm.

conclusionRemote symptom monitoring using ePROs with alerts is feasible for thoracic surgery patients and providers. Short-term HRQOL may be improved with ePROs with alerts. The downstream impact of ePRO use on long-term HRQOL and other outcomes requires further study.

trial registrationhttps://Clinicaltrials.gov NCT04342260.

Indexed as

Patient Reported Outcome MeasuresQuality of LifeThoracic Surgical ProceduresAdultAgedFeasibility StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPilot ProjectsRemote Patient MonitoringSurveys and QuestionnairesSymptom BurdenePROHRQOLImplementationPatient-reported outcomesPROQuality-of-lifeSurgeryThoracic Surgery

Identifiers

PMID41920389
PMCPMC13043549

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.