Motivating Adherence to Symptom Reporting among Patients with Cancer: Pilot Study

Alyssa Donawa; Jeffrey Millan; Luis Millan; Thomas Reeves; Ronaldo Lopez-Tucux; Nazila Shafagati; Ruta Arays; Ralph Zinner; Corey E. Baker

doi:10.1109/BSN66969.2025.11337280

Motivating Adherence to Symptom Reporting among Patients with Cancer: Pilot Study

Alyssa Donawa
, Jeffrey Millan
, Luis Millan
, Thomas Reeves
, Ronaldo Lopez-Tucux
, Nazila Shafagati
, Ruta Arays
, Ralph Zinner
, Corey E. Baker

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

Incorporating mobile health (mHealth) into cancer care holds growing promise for improving quality and access, especially in rural and disadvantaged populations, who continue to face disparities in distress prevalence and healthcare engagement. Regardless, sustained engagement with mHealth solutions remains challenging due to motivational, technical, and usability barriers. We developed and piloted a HIPAA-compliant mHealth app, Assuage, in a 45-day longitudinal study with seven cancer patients, the majority from rural backgrounds. Participants alternated between daily and every-other-day symptom reporting. Our findings reflect adherence trends across reporting frequencies, stable and favorable system usability measures before and after the study, and qualitative insights about participants' willingness to use mHealth for symptom self-reporting.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025
ISBN (Electronic)	9798331554545
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/BSN66969.2025.11337280
State	Published - 2025
Event	2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025 - Los Angeles, United States Duration: Nov 3 2025 → Nov 5 2025

Publication series

Name	2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025

Conference

Conference	2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025
Country/Territory	United States
City	Los Angeles
Period	11/3/25 → 11/5/25

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 IEEE.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

adherence
cancer patients
mHealth
mobile health
patient-reported outcomes
symptom-reporting
user studies

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Health Informatics
Instrumentation
Computer Networks and Communications
Biomedical Engineering

Access to Document

10.1109/BSN66969.2025.11337280

Cite this

Donawa, A., Millan, J., Millan, L., Reeves, T., Lopez-Tucux, R., Shafagati, N., Arays, R., Zinner, R., & Baker, C. E. (2025). Motivating Adherence to Symptom Reporting among Patients with Cancer: Pilot Study. In 2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025 (2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025). https://doi.org/10.1109/BSN66969.2025.11337280

@inproceedings{48b2116644074f5394d24847b085d8e2,

title = "Motivating Adherence to Symptom Reporting among Patients with Cancer: Pilot Study",

abstract = "Incorporating mobile health (mHealth) into cancer care holds growing promise for improving quality and access, especially in rural and disadvantaged populations, who continue to face disparities in distress prevalence and healthcare engagement. Regardless, sustained engagement with mHealth solutions remains challenging due to motivational, technical, and usability barriers. We developed and piloted a HIPAA-compliant mHealth app, Assuage, in a 45-day longitudinal study with seven cancer patients, the majority from rural backgrounds. Participants alternated between daily and every-other-day symptom reporting. Our findings reflect adherence trends across reporting frequencies, stable and favorable system usability measures before and after the study, and qualitative insights about participants' willingness to use mHealth for symptom self-reporting.",

keywords = "adherence, cancer patients, mHealth, mobile health, patient-reported outcomes, symptom-reporting, user studies",

author = "Alyssa Donawa and Jeffrey Millan and Luis Millan and Thomas Reeves and Ronaldo Lopez-Tucux and Nazila Shafagati and Ruta Arays and Ralph Zinner and Baker, \{Corey E.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 IEEE.; 2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025 ; Conference date: 03-11-2025 Through 05-11-2025",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.1109/BSN66969.2025.11337280",

language = "English",

series = "2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025",

booktitle = "2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025",

}

Donawa, A, Millan, J, Millan, L, Reeves, T, Lopez-Tucux, R, Shafagati, N, Arays, R, Zinner, R & Baker, CE 2025, Motivating Adherence to Symptom Reporting among Patients with Cancer: Pilot Study. in 2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025. 2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025, 2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025, Los Angeles, United States, 11/3/25. https://doi.org/10.1109/BSN66969.2025.11337280

Motivating Adherence to Symptom Reporting among Patients with Cancer: Pilot Study. / Donawa, Alyssa; Millan, Jeffrey; Millan, Luis et al.
2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025. 2025. (2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

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T2 - 2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025

AU - Donawa, Alyssa

AU - Millan, Jeffrey

AU - Millan, Luis

AU - Reeves, Thomas

AU - Lopez-Tucux, Ronaldo

AU - Shafagati, Nazila

AU - Arays, Ruta

AU - Zinner, Ralph

AU - Baker, Corey E.

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - Incorporating mobile health (mHealth) into cancer care holds growing promise for improving quality and access, especially in rural and disadvantaged populations, who continue to face disparities in distress prevalence and healthcare engagement. Regardless, sustained engagement with mHealth solutions remains challenging due to motivational, technical, and usability barriers. We developed and piloted a HIPAA-compliant mHealth app, Assuage, in a 45-day longitudinal study with seven cancer patients, the majority from rural backgrounds. Participants alternated between daily and every-other-day symptom reporting. Our findings reflect adherence trends across reporting frequencies, stable and favorable system usability measures before and after the study, and qualitative insights about participants' willingness to use mHealth for symptom self-reporting.

AB - Incorporating mobile health (mHealth) into cancer care holds growing promise for improving quality and access, especially in rural and disadvantaged populations, who continue to face disparities in distress prevalence and healthcare engagement. Regardless, sustained engagement with mHealth solutions remains challenging due to motivational, technical, and usability barriers. We developed and piloted a HIPAA-compliant mHealth app, Assuage, in a 45-day longitudinal study with seven cancer patients, the majority from rural backgrounds. Participants alternated between daily and every-other-day symptom reporting. Our findings reflect adherence trends across reporting frequencies, stable and favorable system usability measures before and after the study, and qualitative insights about participants' willingness to use mHealth for symptom self-reporting.

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KW - cancer patients

KW - mHealth

KW - mobile health

KW - patient-reported outcomes

KW - symptom-reporting

KW - user studies

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M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:105033321514

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BT - 2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Body Sensor Networks, IEEE BSN 2025

Y2 - 3 November 2025 through 5 November 2025

ER -

Motivating Adherence to Symptom Reporting among Patients with Cancer: Pilot Study

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Cite this