The 'Cancer Home-Life Intervention': A randomised controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of an occupational therapy-based intervention in people with advanced cancer.

Abstract

People with advanced cancer face difficulties with their everyday activities at home that may reduce their health-related quality of life. To address these difficulties, we developed the 'Cancer Home-Life Intervention'. To evaluate the efficacy of the 'Cancer Home Life-Intervention' compared with usual care with regard to patients' performance of, and participation in, everyday activities, and their health-related quality of life. A randomised controlled trial ( ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02356627). The 'Cancer Home-Life Intervention' is a brief, tailored, occupational therapy-based and adaptive programme for people with advanced cancer targeting the performance of their prioritised everyday activities. Home-living adults diagnosed with advanced cancer experiencing functional limitations were recruited from two Danish hospitals. They were assessed at baseline, and at 6 and 12 weeks of follow-up. The primary outcome was activities of daily living motor ability. Secondary outcomes were activities of daily living process ability, difficulty performing prioritised everyday activities, participation restrictions and health-related quality of life. A total of 242 participants were randomised either to the intervention group ( n = 121) or the control group ( n = 121). No effect was found on the primary outcome (between-group mean change: -0.04 logits (95% confidence interval: -0.23 to 0.15); p = 0.69). Nor was any effect on the secondary outcomes observed. In most cases, the 'Cancer Home-Life Intervention' was delivered through only one home visit and one follow-up telephone contact, which not was effective in maintaining or improving participants' everyday activities and health-related quality of life. Future research should pay even more attention to intervention development and feasibility testing.