Digital humanistic program to manage premature frailty in young breast cancer survivors with gender perspective

Yun Hu; Joshua Wiley; Lulu Jiang; Xiyi Wang; Ran Yi; Jiehui Xu; Yanyan Liu; Aozhou Weng; Futai Zou; Eun-Ok Im

doi:10.1038/s41746-025-01439-y

Digital humanistic program to manage premature frailty in young breast cancer survivors with gender perspective

NPJ Digit Med. 2025 Jan 16;8(1):35. doi: 10.1038/s41746-025-01439-y.

Authors

Yun Hu¹, Joshua Wiley², Lulu Jiang³, Xiyi Wang³, Ran Yi³, Jiehui Xu⁴, Yanyan Liu³, Aozhou Weng³, Futai Zou⁵, Eun-Ok Im⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. [email protected].
² Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
³ School of Nursing, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
⁵ School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
⁶ School of Nursing, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.

PMID: 39820349
DOI: 10.1038/s41746-025-01439-y

Abstract

Premature frailty is a critical challenge for young breast cancer survivors (YBCSs), impacting their health and perpetuating gender inequality through heightened vulnerability and marginalization. While digital health shows promise in frailty screening, its effectiveness for comprehensively managing frailty remains inconclusive. This randomized controlled trial, registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2200058823), tests the "AI-TA" program's efficacy on premature frailty and quality of life in YBCSs. The intervention group received a gender- and generation-sensitive program combining artificial intelligence interactions and humanities skills. The control group received 12 weeks of online information support. Both groups improved in frailty dimensions (P < 0.05); the intervention group showed notable enhancements in psychological (P = 0.013) and social frailty (P < 0.001). Quality of life also improved more in the intervention group from T1 to T2 (β = 15.384, 95% CI:13.028-17.740, P < 0.001). Results show a gender- and generation-sensitive digital humanistic program can optimize frailty management, promoting survivorship and gender equity.