03 March 2023
Bilbao Campus
The Big Data for the Quality of Life (BD4QoL) project, in which the researchers from Deusto, Aitor Almeida and Aritz Bilbao participate, has run a clinical trial in order to carry out an advanced analysis of environmental, emotional, and behavioural data gathered from mobile devices. The aim of this clinical trial is to reduce, with non-invasive tools, the proportion of head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors experiencing a clinically relevant reduction in quality of life during follow-up.
Patients surviving HNC suffer from high physical, psychological, and socioeconomic burdens. Thus, it is paramount to understand and address individual survivor`s needs, interpreting signs and symptoms of survivors ‘health helping identify timely interventions which can make a difference in the quality of life of each patient.
Combining big data analysos tools with the innovative use of TICS (such as, mobile phones) might allow us to develop specific interventions to improve the quality of life of cancer survivors.
The objective of this project is two-fold: on the one side, to address survivors`and physicians`needs, and on the other side, to overcome the cultural, psycological, organizationsl and technological barriers to systematic and coordinated monitoring of HNC survivors`QoL.
The BD4QoL platform includes a set of services which enable the follow-up as well as the empowerment of the patients though two main tools: an app embedded in the smart phones of the participants, with a chatbot for the e-coaching, and a panel of Point of Care to allow researchers manage the patients.
The clinical trial “ A multicenter randomized trial for quality of life evaluation by non-invasive intelligent tools during post-curative treatment follow-up for head and neck cancer: Clinical study protocol” has been published in the prestigious journal revista Frontiers in Oncology in issue number 13, 2023.
