Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Symptom Assessment in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Patients

You will be asked to complete several questionnaires during a visit to the Thoracic Clinic. These questionnaires measure physical and emotional symptoms, and quality of life. Completing the questionnaires takes about 30-45 minutes. The research nurse will also teach you how to use the telephone system for reporting symptoms. You will tell the research nurse when the most convenient times for the telephone calls and the telephone system will be set up to call at those times.

It is not clear at this time whether the telephone symptom evaluation is better than the usual plan that doctors and nurses follow for asking about symptoms. For this reason, you will be randomly picked (as in the toss of a coin) to be in one of two groups. The chance of being in either one of the two programs is about equal.

Half of the patients will be assigned to the "telephone assessment system plus triage" group. If you are assigned to this group, you will report symptoms to the telephone system and the doctor or nurse at M.D. Anderson will be notified when a symptom is severe. You will also be encouraged to report all symptoms to their doctor and nurse at M.D. Anderson.

Half of the patients will be assigned to the "telephone assessment only" group. If you are assigned to this group, your symptom information will only be given through the telephone system. You will also be encouraged to report all symptoms directly to your doctor and nurse at M.D. Anderson. Your physician may request information from the telephone system.

If you are assigned to this "telephone assessment only" group, the telephone system will call you twice a week during 2 cycles of chemotherapy. It is programmed to ask you to rate your symptoms and how much the symptoms interfere in your life. Rating symptoms using the telephone system takes less than five minutes for each call.

After each chemotherapy cycle, you and patients in both groups will be asked to fill out questionnaires during a clinic visit. The questionnaires are used to measure emotional symptoms and quality of life. Completing the questionnaires takes about 15-30 minutes. Your medical charts will also be reviewed and information collected about medical history.

If you have agreed to participate in the companion caregiver study, the study staff will use your demographic and clinical data to study the influence of your symptoms on your caregiver's physical and mental health.

This is an investigational study. About 100 will be enrolled at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. A total of 136 patients will take part in this multicenter study.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients diagnosed with stage III or IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or small cell lung cancer (SCLC) (Patients who have received other prior chemotherapy are eligible.)
• 18 years of age or older
• English-speaking
• Lives in the United States
• Adequate vision and hearing to use the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system
• Provides written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Current diagnosis of psychosis or dementia
• Patients unable to complete the assessment measures or unable to understand the purpose of the study