Mobile Distress Screening in Orthopedic Oncology - a Smartphone-based Cancer-specific Assessment in Patients With Sarcoma.

BACKGROUND/AIM: A substantial proportion of patients with cancer experience clinically relevant psycho-oncological distress. In addition to clinic-based screening, mobile approaches are receiving increasing attention for standardized assessment. However, evidence in patients with musculoskeletal sarcoma remains limited. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Forty-five patients with sarcoma underwent smartphone-based distress screening using a cancer-specific questionnaire (QSC-R10) at two time points (T1 and T2). At T1, patients also completed the System Usability Scale (SUS) and additional acceptability items. RESULTS: Mean QSC-R10 scores decreased significantly from T1 to T2 (p=0.034). Patients with recurrent disease showed significantly higher distress at follow-up (p=0.012). Usability was high (SUS: 83.78±12.68), and overall acceptance was high. CONCLUSION: Smartphone-based distress screening is feasible and well accepted in patients with musculoskeletal sarcoma and may improve the identification of psycho-oncological needs through repeated, real-world assessments.