Electronic patient-reported outcome measures (ePROs) as tools for assessing health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in women with gynecologic and breast cancers: a systematic review

Abstract

Objectives To provide a comprehensive review of the use of electronic patient-reported outcomes measures (ePROs) as digital health tools to assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in women with breast, ovarian, cervical, and endometrial cancers. Methods A systematic review was conducted to identify studies that used ePROs to evaluate HRQoL in women diagnosed with breast and gynecological cancers. The review followed the 2020 update of the PRISMA guidelines and a pre-registered protocol in PROSPERO (CRD42024516737). Inclusion criteria encompassed studies focusing on ePROs for HRQoL assessment in the specified cancers, without language restrictions, and published between January 2000 and December 2023. Studies were retrieved from PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts, and full texts to identify eligible studies. Results The search yielded 4978 articles. After removing duplicates, 900 articles were assessed for eligibility by screening the titles and abstracts. After screening the full text of 168 articles, a total of 16 studies were included in this systematic review. These studies were mainly conducted in Europe and the Americas and included different study designs such as randomized controlled trials (four articles), prospective studies (seven articles), and feasibility and validation studies (five articles). The majority of the studies focused on breast cancer (87.5%), with fewer studies addressing ovarian and cervical cancers. A variety of ePRO tools were used, including the FACT and EORTC QLQ. Findings show that ePROs enhance therapeutic management, treatment adherence, and HRQoL through improved symptom monitoring and communication between patients and providers. Conclusion The integration of ePROs in oncology care facilitates a patient-centered approach, enhances communication between patients and healthcare providers, and supports personalized treatment strategies. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating ePROs into routine cancer care to improve overall patient outcomes and HRQoL.