An emotion-based online intervention for reducing anxiety and depression in cancer patients: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: A cancer diagnosis can cause severe emotional distress and affect quality of life as well as social relationships. The transition from inpatient to outpatient treatment is burdened by stressful uncertainties and a gap of psycho-oncological care. In addition, further barriers, such as information deficits or fear of stigmatization, might hinder cancer patients to use psycho-oncological face-to-face interventions. Online interventions can be a low-threshold adjunct to existing face-to-face services. This study aims to evaluate the effect of the online self-help program epos (emotion-based psycho-oncological online self-help) on improving symptoms of anxiety and depression in German-speaking cancer patients. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial (RCT) is carried out in a parallel group design. N = 325 patients will be enrolled in the trial, randomly assigned to an intervention and a control group. While the intervention group has access to nine modules of epos, the control group gets access to an informational website. Participants will complete online questionnaires at baseline (T0), after the intervention (T1) and three-month follow-up (T2). Primary outcome is a combined measure of depression and anxiety. Secondary outcomes include psychological distress, anxiety, depression, quality of life, emotional control, posttraumatic growth, and satisfaction with epos. Participants are at least 18 years old, have a cancer diagnosis, currently receive cancer treatment or aftercare, have sufficient German language competence, and have access to the Internet. Exclusion criteria are severe mental comorbidities (i.e. severe depression, suicidality) or somatic comorbidities (i.e. visual disabilities). DISCUSSION: The results of this study will provide information about acceptability, feasibility, and efficacy of epos in improving symptoms of depression and anxiety in cancer patients and thus contribute to the research on web-based interventions. If found efficacious, epos will improve psycho-oncological care in cancer patients in transition from inpatient to outpatient care and in those who struggle to find adequate psycho-oncological support due to other (perceived) barriers.