Oral Presentation COSA 2015 ASM

The Melanoma Care Study a psycho-educational intervention for people with melanoma at high risk of developing a new primary: A pilot randomised controlled trial (#48)

Mbathio Dieng 1 , Shab Mireskandari 2 , Daniel SJ Costa 3 , Rachael L Morton 4 , Graham J Mann 5 , Phyllis Butow 3 , Scott W Menzies 6 , Anne E Cust 1 , Nadine A Kasparian 7
  1. Cancer Epidemiology and Services Research , University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. Centre for Medical Psychology & Evidence-based Decision-making, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. Psycho-oncology Co-operative Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  4. University of Sydney, NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
  5. University of Sydney at Westmead Millennium Institute and Melanoma Institute, Westmead Institute for Cancer Research, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  6. Discipline of Dermatology, The University of Sydney , The Sydney Melanoma Diagnostic Centre, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
  7. School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Aims: To investigate the acceptability, feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a newly developed psycho-educational intervention for people with melanoma. Methods: Twenty-four people (14 men and 10 women, mean age 58.8 years) at high risk of developing a subsequent primary melanoma were recruited to the Melanoma Care Study and randomly assigned to the intervention arm (a newly developed booklet plus a freely available Cancer Council booklet on melanoma plus three telephone based sessions with a psychologist) or to usual care (plus the Cancer Council booklet). Feasibility was based on acceptability of the intervention, participants’ preferences, adherence, retention, and practicability of the intervention and trial methodology. Self-reported measures assessing fear of cancer recurrence and secondary outcomes were completed at baseline, with follow-up at one and six months. Results: The psycho-educational intervention was acceptable to participants and was successfully implemented in this melanoma high risk clinic setting. Perceived satisfaction and benefits were highly rated for all components of the intervention, with the telephone-based psychologist sessions the most highly rated with regards to satisfaction and benefits (both had a mean score of 9.27 out of 10 (SD=2.41), with 10 indicating extremely satisfied/beneficial). Eleven of 12 participants in the intervention group reported that they would recommend the program to other melanoma patients, and 9 of 12 in the control group would recommend the study. Preliminary outcome data showed positive changes in fear of recurrence, depression, anxiety, stress, knowledge, and satisfaction with clinical care scores. Conclusions: Pilot results suggest that the Melanoma Care Study psycho-educational intervention is feasible and acceptable and likely to be an effective strategy for improving health outcomes. A larger trial is underway to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the intervention.