AppReminders trial
Research type
Research Study
Full title
AppReminders – A pilot feasibility trial of a memory aid app for people with acquired brain injury
IRAS ID
260459
Contact name
Matthew Jamieson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 4 days
Research summary
Research Summary
People with brain injury commonly experience difficulties with memory, concentration, attention and judgement, meaning that important everyday actions and tasks are not carried out or not completed, limiting the ability to live independently. Technology-based solutions, including smartphone applications, can help by providing prompts about intended actions at the correct time. However, memory and attention impairments mean people forget to set reminders or fail to set them accurately (e.g. setting the wrong time/date for events). Using co-design methods with prospective users, we developed ApplTree, a smartphone reminding application with design features that can be personalised to individuals. ApplTree prompts reminder setting, supports reminder entry to improve accuracy, and delivers users with prompts at the appropriate times. A pilot randomised controlled trial will be conducted to provide crucial information to inform a future larger scale efficacy trial of ApplTree as an intervention to support memory in people with acquired brain injury.
Summary of Results
This study investigated how feasible it would be to recruit people with acquired brain injury (ABI) in a study comparing two different apps that support memory. One app was ApplTree which has been developed with features to support use by people with ABI. The other app was Google Calendar, a widely used reminding app. The trial would tell us how many people would be needed for a full scale trial and how feasible it would be to introduce a reminding app to people receiving community based brain injury rehabilitation.
In total, 285 people were considered for the trial from four brain injury services. 63 were eligible and approached. 39 consented to take part. 29 completed the baseline phase and 19 completed the follow up phase.
We now know that a full randomised controlled trial comparing ApplTree to Google Calendar we would need to analyse data from 72 people. This would require 1080 service users to be considered for participation by service staff.
A single hour long in-person or remote session involving a 30 minute video tutorial and 30 minutes of support from a rehabilitation worker was sufficient for 90% of the participants to learn how to use a reminding app; 79% were still using it two months later.
This link contains a more detailed report of the findings: https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fu2790089.ct.sendgrid.net%2Fls%2Fclick%3Fupn%3DXv3JSvJ-2B3M71ppf7N9agbQoEZUPDGg83r4WRfiJKXNQ98m1pg3WDLUgE6EUt62Un9iEVseFGY-2Byk9BLE7ZDwcsT0H7T9PI978wKFaSzSiOA-3DF2if_E1aO2-2BZlVOSJJV-2FajQqskegTd6IRomHYTi-2Fbt8SH3YIc24jV4oiWoBrMRcvKDG0-2BTDl44Qd3fNr3iluHnnYN9PTmxSVpdgNkIf3DEsTscIfDZMtgNFv8nTiiwz2bvClpVMNhrruoJSlT-2BJylTeNJm27vWVd5g6jMOFBEVLgC1YXdZh-2BgwcxMLFNEBzhrT6c95feg2IIsETkAhE9KugMevw-3D-3D&data=05%7C01%7Capprovals%40hra.nhs.uk%7C51bdc1020cb7463ba42c08daa84219ae%7C8e1f0acad87d4f20939e36243d574267%7C0%7C0%7C638007299093102226%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Qfm9Yp%2FF6Em1Q0uEB9DkhfZ96WN557CbGYIDsDDix%2B0%3D&reserved=0
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2
REC reference
19/ES/0060
Date of REC Opinion
25 Jun 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion