INTRODUCTION: Electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) have tremendous potential to optimise palliative and supportive care for children with cancer, their families and healthcare providers. Particularly, these children and their families are subjected to multiple strains caused by the disease and its treatment. The MyPal digital health platform is designed to address these complex demands by offering pursuant ePRO-based functionalities via two mobile applications, one developed for children and the other for their parents. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: In this observational prospective feasibility study, 100 paediatric oncology patients aged between 6 and 17 years and at least one of their parents/legal guardians will be recruited at three clinical sites in two European countries (Germany and Czech Republic). They will use the mobile applications which are part of the novel digital health platform. During a 6-month study period, participants will complete various ePROs via the applications addressing quality of life, satisfaction with care and impact of the disease on the family at monthly intervals. Additionally, priority-based symptom reporting is integrated into a serious game for children. Outcomes that will be assessed concern the feasibility and the evaluation of the newly designed digital health platform to contribute to the evidence base of clinical ePRO use in paediatric oncology and palliative care process. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The MyPal-Child study obtained ethical approval from the Ethics Committee responsible for the University of Saarland, that is, the Ärztekammer des Saarlandes, the Ethics Committee of the Medical School Hannover and the Ethics Committee of the University of Brno. Study results will be disseminated through scientific publications, presentations at international conferences, congresses and a final report to the European Commission. General publicly accessible information can be found on the project website (www.mypal-project.eu) and social media. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS: U1111-1251-0043, DRKS00021458, NCT04381221.

Clinic for Paediatric Oncology and Haematology Hannover Medical School Hannover Niedersachsen Germany

Clinic of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Saarland University Hospital and Saarland University Faculty of Medicine Homburg Saarland Germany

Department of Onco Haematology Division of Experimental Oncology Università Vita Salute San Raffaele Milano Italy

Department of Pediatric Oncology University Hospital Brno Brno Jihomoravský Czech Republic

Department of Public Health Policy University of West Attica Athens Attica Greece

Head Office European Association for Palliative Care Vilvoorde Belgium

Institute of Applied Biosciences Centre for Research and Technology Hellas Thessaloniki Central Macedonia Greece

International Children's Palliative Care Network Bristol Avon UK

International Observatory on End of Life Care Institute for Health Research Lancaster University Lancaster Lancashire UK

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AquaScouts: ePROs Implemented as a Serious Game for Children With Cancer to Support Palliative Care

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ClinicalTrials.gov
NCT04381221

DRKS
DRKS00021458