OnQol: Electronic device to capture QoL data in oncology: Difference between patients 65 years or older and patients younger than 65 years of age

Objective: To assess the feasibility of electronic data capture for older patients, as well as to compare preferences between answering a paper version versus an electronic version in patients with cancer who are older and younger than 65 years of age. Materials and methods: The computer and the paper versions of the QLQ-C30 questionnaire were administered to a sample of 200 cancer patients. Results: 38.7% of older patients preferred the electronic version, 8.1% preferred the paper questionnaire and 53.2% had no preference between these two methods. No statistically significant differences between the answers on the paper and computer versions were found. The best correlation in responses was seen in the "diarrhea" and "physical functioning" subscales. Patients preferred to use the computer version in comparison to the paper version. Conclusions: The computer version of the QLQ-C30 demonstrated similar results to the paper version and proved to be preferred by the cancer patients included in the study. This method is useful for monitoring patients' QoL in daily oncology practice and in real time, being a potential useful method to support clinical decision making. It is feasible and useful to use these tools with an older population of patients. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.