Evaluation of the Clinical Utility of the Bone Metastases Ensemble Trees for Survival Decision Support Platform (BMETS-DSP): A Case-Based Pilot Assessment.

Purpose: The Bone Metastases Ensemble Trees for Survival Decision Support Platform (BMETS-DSP) provides patient-specific survival predictions and evidence-based recommendations to guide multidisciplinary management for symptomatic bone metastases. We assessed the clinical utility of the BMETS-DSP through a pilot prepost design in a simulated clinical environment.

Methods: Ten Radiation Oncology physicians reviewed 55 patient cases at two time points: without and then with the use of BMETS-DSP.

Evaluation of classification and regression tree (CART) model in weight loss prediction following head and neck cancer radiation therapy.

Objective: We explore whether a knowledge-discovery approach building a Classification and Regression Tree (CART) prediction model for weight loss (WL) in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients treated with radiation therapy (RT) is feasible.

Methods And Materials: HNC patients from 2007 to 2015 were identified from a prospectively collected database Oncospace. Two prediction models at different time points were developed to predict weight loss ≥5 kg at 3 months post-RT by CART algorithm: (1) during RT planning using patient demographic, delineated dose data, planning target volume-organs at risk shape relationships data and (2) at the end of treatment (EOT) using additional on-treatment toxicities and quality of life data.

Prospective evaluation of patient reported swallow function with the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT), MD Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) and the Sydney Swallow Questionnaire (SSQ) in head and neck cancer patients.

Objectives: The Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) instrument is comprised of a group of related and overlapping quality of life (QoL) questionnaires including a core general form, head and neck cancer (HNC)-specific items, and an expert-selected index (FACT-HNSI). Understanding how these relate to more HNC-specific instruments such as the MD Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) and Sydney Swallow Questionnaire (SSQ) is vital for guiding their use in clinical trials.

Materials And Methods: HNC patients concurrently completed MDADI, SSQ, and FACT questionnaires at radiation oncology clinic visits (2015-2016).

Measuring health care quality: comparing and contrasting the medical and the marketing approaches.

Health care quality, a key concept for medical practice and research, is also a widely used construct in health care administration and marketing research. We explored discipline-specific differences in the definition of quality, with the intent of finding a more unified approach. We summarized definitions and basic conceptual approaches to quality in both disciplines and then compared them on several attributes: basic goals, sources of measurement, role of patient perceptions, role of health care personnel, and need for risk adjustment.