ESTRO 2024 - Abstract Book

S5691

RTT - Patient experience and quality of life

ESTRO 2024

Nicola Iosca 1 , Ilaria Pia Monaco 1 , Alessandro Lorusso 2 , Angela Sardaro 3

1 AOUC Policlinico di Bari, Radiotherapy, Bari, Italy. 2 Università Studi di Bari, Bsc Radiology, Bari, Italy. 3 Università Studi di Bari, Medicine Department, Bari, Italy

Purpose/Objective:

"Radioterapia Insieme" is a web community founded in May 2022 by three Italian Radiation Therapists (RTTs) with the aim of sharing information, curiosities, and initiatives related to Oncological Radiotherapy practices using the most popular social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, Telegram, Tik Tok) and providing in-depth scientific focuses on a blog website. In January 2023 they launched "Radioterapia Insieme Talk", the first Italian video podcast Radiotherapy based, featuring interviews with oncology patients, associations, and professionals.One year after the first post-drop and after sharing over 20 publications about Oncological Radiotherapy key concepts, the team structured a survey to assess the demographic data in the community, their personal relationship with Radiotherapy, and their basic knowledge about concepts analyzed in the scientific focuses. This analysis aims to a better understanding about community characteristics and planning future publications complexity and topics. The survey, developed and distributed using Google Forms, consisted of 17 questions divided into four sections: demographic information (3 questions), personal relationship with Radiotherapy (3 questions), basic knowledge about Radiotherapy (a quiz with 10 multiple-choice questions), and relationship with social communities (2 questions). Personal perceptions, investigated in the second section, were highlighted by asking respondents to self-assess their knowledge of Radiotherapy indicating their perceived emotions based on Plutchik's model[1] of 8 primary emotions. Each respondent was free to select from one to all the alternatives. The survey was conducted online over three months and accessible through a link and QR code. The survey’s promotion was carried out through "Radioterapia Insieme" page via posts, stories, and shares on other social pages that spontaneously supported the initiative. The estimated completion time was five minutes. Between June 17th and September 17th 2023, were fully completed 422 questionnaires. Participants were distributed as follows: 59% females, 38.5% males, and 2.5% unspecified. The average age was 34 years (±13), with a majority education at or above the undergraduate level (51%). Regarding their relationship with Radiotherapy [Figure 1] 33% of participants were healthcare professionals, of whom 50% worked in a Radiotherapy facility. 28% of participants had never had direct contact with radiotherapy, 21% were students in healthcare-related fields, and 18% were directly involved as patients (7%), acquaintances (11%), or caregivers (1%). Results: Material/Methods: