Development and results of a patient-reported treatment experience questionnaire on a 1.5 T MR-Linac
Barnes, H. Alexander, S. Bower, L. Ehlers, J. Gani, C. Herbert, T. Lawes, R. Moller, P. K. Morgan, T. Nowee, M.
Barnes, H.
Alexander, S.
Bower, L.
Ehlers, J.
Gani, C.
Herbert, T.
Lawes, R.
Moller, P. K.
Morgan, T.
Nowee, M.
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Abstract
Purpose or Objective
With the implementation of new radiotherapy technology, it is imperative that patient experience is investigated alongside efficacy and outcomes. This paper presents the development of a specifically designed
validated questionnaire and a first report of international multi-institutional preliminary patient experience of
MRI-guided adaptive radiotherapy (MRgART) on the 1.5 T MR-Linac (MRL).
Materials and Methods
A patient experience questionnaire was developed and validated before being distributed to the Elekta MRL
Consortium, to gather first patient-reported experience from participating centres worldwide. The final
version of the questionnaire contains 18 questions covering a range of themes and was scored on a Likert scale
of 0-3. Responses were post-processed so that a score of 0 represents a negative response and 3 represents
the most favourable response. These results were analysed for patient-reported experience of treatment on
the MRL. Results were also analysed for internal consistency of the questionnaire using Chronbach’s Alpha and
the questionnaire contents were validated for relevance using content validity indexes (CVI).
Results
170 responses were received from six centres, representing patients with a wide range of tumour treatment
sites from five different countries. MRgART was well tolerated with an 84% favourable response across all
questions and respondents. When analysed by theme, all reported the highest percentage of results in the
favourable categories (2 and 3). Internal consistency in the questionnaire was high (Cronbach’s α =0.8) and the
item-level CVI for each question was 0.78 or above and the Scale-level CVI was 0.93, representing relevant
content.
Conclusion
The developed questionnaire has been validated as relevant and appropriate for use in reporting experience of
patients undergoing treatment on the MRL. The overall patient-reported experience and satisfaction from
multiple centres within the Elekta MRL Consortium was consistently high. These results can reinforce user
confidence in continuing to expand and develop MRL use in adaptive radiotherapy.
Description
Date
2021
Publisher
Collections
Keywords
Type
Meetings and Proceedings
Citation
Barnes H, Alexander S, Bower L, Ehlers J, Gani C, Herbert T, et al. Development and results of a patient-reported treatment experience questionnaire on a 1.5 T MR-Linac. Radiotherapy and Oncology. 2021;161:S632-S3.