By utilizing a gamified mobile health (mHealth) app, children with cancer are able to self-report symptoms and daily experiences during their cancer treatment, according to research published in Journal of Pediatric Nursing.
The app, Color Me Healthy, is a game-based digital therapeutic codesigned by pediatric oncologists, game design students and faculty, and children with cancer to assess childrens’ symptoms during treatment.
Some of the gamified elements include a customizable avatar, diary, sketch pad, and daily goals checklist. Additionally, children can report their general and localized symptoms by clicking or drawing on their avatar or by using a sliding bar to report symptom severity.
Eight common cancer-related symptoms were derived from the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale and interviews during app development, and these are pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, difficulty sleeping, decreased appetite, cough, and dizziness. Localized symptom options include mouth sores, bruising, and numbness or a tingling sensation in areas such as the head, mouth, chest, abdomen, and extremities.
The app’s language is also designed for children, with simple tasks like brushing teeth or going for a walk and using the word bother rather than distress when reporting symptom severity.
According to the study authors, the app was also designed to learn about children’s engagement in usual childhood experiences, not just to focus on how cancer affects their lives.
The study included 19 children aged 6 to 12 years—with a median age of 8 years and most (12) being boys—who were receiving cancer treatment at the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at a free-standing pediatric hospital in the Intermountain West region of the United States. Cancer diagnoses included acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, osteosarcoma, and brain tumor.
Source: Game-Based App Helps Children Self-Report Symptoms During Cancer Treatment
