Purpose: We aimed to assess the impact of implementing Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) screening on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and patient satisfaction with care (PSC) in ambulatory oncology patients. ESAS is now a standard of care in Ontario cancer centers, with the goal of improving symptom management in cancer patients, yet few studies examine impact of ESAS on patient outcomes.
Methods: We compared ambulatory oncology patients who were not screened prior to ESAS site implementation (2011-2012), to a similar group who were screened using ESAS after site implementation (2012-2013), to examine between-group differences in patient HRQoL, PSC outcomes, and supportive care needs (Supportive Care Service Survey). Both no-ESAS (n = 160) and ESAS (n = 108) groups completed these measures: the latter completing them, along with ESAS, at baseline and 2 weeks later.
Results: After assessing the impact of implementing ESAS, by matching for potentially confounding variables and conducting univariate analyses, no significant between-group differences were found in HRQoL or PSC. There was significant improvement in symptoms of nausea/vomiting and constipation, after 2 weeks. Lower symptom burden with decreased ESAS scores was significantly correlated with increased HRQoL. There were no between-group differences in knowledge of/access to supportive care.
Conclusions: Significant correlation between change in ESAS and HRQoL implies ESAS could usefully inform healthcare providers about need to respond to changes in symptom and functioning between visits. This study showed no impact of early-ESAS screening on HRQoL or PSC. Further research should explore how to better utilize ESAS screening, to improve communication, symptom management, and HRQoL.
Keywords: Ambulatory oncology; Distress screening; Edmonton Symptom Assessment System; Health-related quality of life; Patient satisfaction with care.