Digital participation of brain tumour patients in the assessment and treatment of communication disorders

Abstract

Introduction: Communication deficits have a severe impact on our social interactions and health-related quality of life. Subtle communication deficits are frequently overlooked or neglected in brain tumour patients, due to insufficient diagnostics. Digital tools may represent a valuable adjunct to the conventional assessment or therapy setting but might not be readily suitable for every patient. Methods: This article summarises results of three surveys on the readiness for telemedicine among (a) patients diagnosed with high-grade glioma, (b) matched controls, and (c) speech and language therapists. The respective surveys assessed the motivation for participation in telemedical assessments and supposed influencing factors, and the use potential of digital assessment and therapy technologies in daily routine, with a spotlight on brain tumour patients and the future prospects of respective telemedical interventions. Respondents included 56 high-grade glioma patients (age median: 59 years; 48% males), 73 propensity-score matched neurologically healthy controls who were instructed to imagine themselves with a severe disease, and 23 speech and language therapists (61% <35 years; all females). Results and discussion: The vast majority of the interviewed high-grade glioma (HGG) patients was open to digitisation, felt well-equipped and sufficiently skilled. The factorial analysis showed that digital offers would be of particular interest for patients in reduced general health condition (p = 0.03) and those who live far from specialised treatment services (p = 0.03). The particular motivation of these subgroups seemed to outweigh the effects of age, equipment and internet skills, which were only significant in the control cohort. The therapists' survey demonstrated a broad consensus on the need for improving the therapy access of brain tumour patients (64%) and strengthening their respective digital participation (78%), although digitisation seems to have yet hardly entered the therapists' daily practise. In summary, the combined results of the surveys call for a joint effort to enhance the prerequisites for digital participation of patients with neurogenic communication disorders, particularly in the context of heavily burdened HGG patients with limited mobility.