Abstract

Introduction: More people are living with and beyond cancer and digital interventions are increasingly being used to support them at all stages through their journey. This rapid review aims to systematically identify and explore the existing evidence that reports on primary data concerning the development of web-based interventions used to support people living with and affected by cancer.

Methods and analysis: Keyword searches were performed in MEDLINE to identify peer-reviewed literature on web-based interventions that are designed to support people living with and affected by cancer. The review will include studies published in the English language and will not have any restrictions on publication date or geography. Screening and data extraction will be completed independently by two reviewers. The included studies will be tabulated and the results synthesised narratively.

Discussion: This rapid review aims to identify and synthesise the peer-reviewed academic literature that reports on primary data concerning the development of web-based interventions to support people living with and affected by cancer. This methodology was chosen to rapidly synthesise the existing peer-reviewed evidence to support the development and design of an online web-based platform that the team are working on to make qualitative research data on lived cancer experience publicly available and accessible.

Ethics and dissemination: The review was registered and given a favourable ethical opinion on the 19/07/21 by a committee at the University of Lincoln (Review ref: 2021_6976). The findings from this rapid review will be presented at appropriate conferences and published in a peer reviewed academic journal as well as a report for the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network.

Systematic review registration: The protocol was registered on the Open Science Framework [https://osf.io/ucvsz].