A pre-consultation compassion intervention to reduce anxiety among patients referred to a cancer center: a randomized control trial

The objective of this trial was to test if an enhanced compassion video emailed to patients prior to their initial oncology consultation reduces anxiety compared to being sent a standard information-only introduction video.

We conducted a randomized control trial at a single university-based cancer center between May 2021 and October 2023. We enrolled adult patients scheduled for an initial cancer consultation. Subjects were randomized 1:1 to receive either a standard introduction video or an enhanced compassion video via email. The primary outcome was degree of anxiety on arrival to the initial oncology consultation, measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS).

Data fields.
video: randomization group
time_lag: time from video email sent to consultation (days)
hads_a: Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) - anxiety total score
hads_d: Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS) - depression total score
five: 5-item compassion measure total score

本试验旨在验证：在患者首次肿瘤专科会诊前通过电子邮件发送的强化共情视频，是否相较于仅发送标准信息介绍视频，可有效降低患者的焦虑水平。

本研究于2021年5月至2023年10月间，在单所大学附属癌症中心开展随机对照试验。研究纳入了预约首次肿瘤会诊的成年患者，按1:1比例随机分组，通过电子邮件分别向两组患者发送标准信息介绍视频或强化共情视频。本研究的主要结局指标为患者抵达首次肿瘤专科会诊时的焦虑程度，采用医院焦虑抑郁量表（Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS）进行测评。

数据字段说明如下：
- video：随机分组信息
- time_lag：从发送视频邮件至会诊的间隔时长（单位：天）
- hads_a：医院焦虑抑郁量表（HADS）焦虑维度总分
- hads_d：医院焦虑抑郁量表（HADS）抑郁维度总分
- five：5条目共情量表总分