Publicación

Agreement between telerehabilitation involving caregivers and face-to-face clinical assessment of lymphedema in breast cancer survivors

  • SUPPORTIVE CARE IN CANCER
  • Autores
    Galiano-Castillo, N; Ariza-Garcia, A; Cantarero-Villanueva, I; Fernandez-Lao, C; Sanchez-Salado, C; Arroyo-Morales, M
  • Año Publicación
    2014
  • Volumen
    22
  • Número
    1
  • Pág. Inicio
    253
  • Pág. Fin
    258
  • Pág. Fin
    253
Referencia Citadas
32
Citas Web of Science
4
Total de veces citado (Z9)
4
Recuento Uso 5 años
10

Lymphedema is a lifetime complication of breast cancer survivors that can limit their participation in recreational or strenuous daily activities. Follow-up of lymphedema using an Internet application could help patients to determine the influence on their condition of these activities and adapt them accordingly. We aimed to determine the level of agreement between lymphedema assessment by telerehabilitation and by the traditional face-to-face method. Thirty breast cancer survivors participated in a descriptive study of repeated measures using a crossover design. Patients attended a session for clinical face-to-face and real-time online telerehabilitation assessments of lymphedema. There was a 120-min interval between these two sessions. The order of sessions was randomly selected for each patient. A caregiver (relative or friend) conducted the telerehabilitation assessment using a system that includes a specific tool based on an arm diagram for measuring the participant’s arm circumferences via a telehealth application. All outcome measures showed reliability estimates (alpha) a parts per thousand yenaEuro parts per thousand 0.90; the lowest reliability was obtained for the total volume on the non-affected side (alpha = 0.90). The diagnosis of lymphedema by the two methods also showed good inter-rater reliability (Rho = 0.89). These preliminary findings support the use of an Internet-based system to assess lymphedema in breast cancer survivors, offering carers a useful role in helping patients to follow up this lifetime health problem.


Web financiada por la Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidades, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), proyecto SOMM17/6107/UG

Web financiada por la Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidades, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), proyecto SOMM17/6107/UGR