Evaluation of a behavioural intervention using app technology in CF

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Evaluation of a behavioural intervention using app technology in cystic fibrosis (EAT-CF)

• IRAS ID

  250784

• Contact name

  Martin Wildman

• Contact email

  martin.wildman@sth.nhs.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  NCT03782909

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  NA, NA

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Research Summary

  Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a lifelong condition which causes the lungs and digestive system to become clogged with thick, sticky mucus. This leads to recurrent lung infections and reduced nutrient absorption from food. The average age of death is 31 years, usually from respiratory failure. Nonetheless, the nutritional status of people with CF (PWCF) is important to help them live healthier and longer.

  It is recommended that adults with CF achieve a BMI of 23 for males and 22 for females. However, approximately 50% of adults with CF achieved that target BMI despite effective nutritional strategies to support weight gain. There is a clear need for a behavioural intervention that can help PWCF use the available nutritional support.

  This is a feasibility study to try out a multi-component behavioural intervention. This intervention is designed to help PWCF use their nutritional strategies to gain weight with the support of a mobile app. PWCF will use the app to upload their daily food and drink intake, giving them an opportunity to receive information about their nutritional intake and their progress toward calorie target and weight monitoring targets. It will focus on testing the methods and procedure to be used on a larger scale and improving the nutritional intervention.

  The first 6 weeks of the intervention are supported by weekly contact with the research dietitian and this is followed by 6 weeks of a maintenance phase. Semi-structured interviews at the end of the study period will then be used to explore patient experience of using the app and the support provided within the intervention design. This feedback will be used to improve the intervention and the study processes.

  Summary of Results

  Five adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) were recruited to the study, all participants completed the study.

  The thematic analysis produced three overarching themes: the quality of the user experience; engagement with the app; CF-specific features of the app.

  The User Experience
  Overall participants reported finding the app easy to use; they liked the look and feel of the user interface and they found it straightforward to enter foods and make diary entries within the app . Specific barriers to usability noted included: the Android-only nature of the mobile app; some foods not being available within the nutritional database.

  Engagement
  The intervention was designed to support a short period (e.g. 6 weeks) of intensive support for people with CF. It was not anticipated that participants would be required to enter their food intake for prolonged periods of time. This was reflected in the feedback from participants in the study, who noted the effort required to routinely track food intake. Participants also noted the importance of a blended approach – combining the digital intervention with consultation with a dietitian.

  CF-specific Elements.
  Patients felt the CF-specific features of the app were of high importance for engagement and relevance to them. They particularly liked the food boost prompts (e.g. ‘do you want to add cheese to your chilli’) which were presented when particular foods were chosen and that they could enter enzymes within the app, which they felt also helped remind them to take their enzymes.

  App usage (average of all participants)
  Number of days nutrition page accessed - 22.8 days
  No. of times nutrition page accessed per day - 3.7 times No. of days food diary completed (full or partial days) - 21.4 days
  Average time spent per day on app 12.3 mins

• REC name

  East Midlands - Nottingham 2 Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  19/EM/0048

• Date of REC Opinion

  2 May 2019

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion