Multimodal patient-centered teleprehabilitation for patients with breast cancer: A protocol for a feasibility study.

Introduction: Surgery, the cornerstone of most cancer treatments, is associated with considerable postoperative complications1. Adjusting patients' health behavior before surgery may have beneficial effects on postoperative outcomes. The objective of this trial is to investigate the feasibility and safety of, and patient-satisfaction and adherence with, patient-centered teleprehabilitation in patients undergoing breast cancer (BC) surgery. Methods: Women (n = 50) who will undergo breast surgery because of stage I-III BC are eligible. All participants will receive multimodal patient-centered teleprehabilitation comprising of motivational interviewing, education, exercise therapy, and stress management. Feasibility, participation rate, patient satisfaction, intervention safety, and treatment adherence will be monitored as primary outcomes. Fatigue, pain, quality of life (QoL), self-efficacy, and healthcare utilization will be assessed by self-reported questionnaires at baseline, 0-, 2-, and 6-months post-intervention. Results: Proof of concept for using telecommunication and exercise therapy in prehabilitation prior to BC surgery is available2,3. We expect the proposed intervention to be feasible and effective at reducing fatigue, pain, and healthcare use, and at improving treatment adherence, QoL, and self-efficacy. Discussion: Effective prehabilitation interventions can reduce the long-term symptoms that arise/persist beyond treatment completion, improving patients' QoL. By using telecommunication technologies, socio-economic barriers can be reduced, making care accessible to all. Process evaluation: With timely recruitment being the greatest challenge, a thorough mitigation strategy was put in place. Recruitment, drop-out, and loss-to-follow-up will constantly be monitored. Additional study centers confirmed their willingness to participate, and other study centers can easily be contacted through our collaboration with the Belgian Society of Medical Oncology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]