iaya

Background: Many young adult patients do not receive adequate psychosocial services to help them cope with cancer. Objective: This study aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a smartphone app (iaya) intervention that was designed to create an engaged community of young adult patients and help them learn emotional coping skills. Methods: For this single-group pilot trial, 25 young adult patients aged 18-39 years who were receiving active cancer treatment were asked to use the iaya app for 12 weeks. To collect app use data, we used Mixpanel, an analytics platform for apps. Feasibility was assessed through rates of app sessions and the number of coping exercises engaged, and intervention acceptability was evaluated by using an app usability questionnaire and through qualitative interviews at study completion. We collected patient-reported outcome data at baseline and at week 12 to explore self-efficacy for coping with cancer, self-efficacy for managing emotions, perceived emotional support, and quality of life. Results: Baseline patient-reported outcome data indicated that participants scored relatively low on perceived emotional support but reasonably high on self-efficacy for coping with cancer and managing emotions as well as quality of life. Participants had a mean of 13 app sessions (SD 14) and 2 coping exercises (SD 3.83) in 12 weeks. Only 9% (2/23) of participants met our combined feasibility definition of 10 or more app sessions and 3 or more coping skills from different categories. The mean app usability score was 5.5 (SD 0.8) on a 7-point Likert scale. Qualitative interviews revealed that participants appreciated the app's sense of community and educational content about coping skills. Conclusions: Although perceived acceptable by patients, the iaya smartphone app did not meet the a priori feasibility criteria as a stand-alone app intervention. Future studies should screen participants for unmet coping needs and consider integrating the app as part of psychosocial care for young adult patients. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03538444.