mHealth intervention to improve nasal corticosteroid adherence

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Feasibility study of a user-centred mobile health intervention for improving nasal corticosteroid adherence in young adults with allergic rhinitis and asthma

  • IRAS ID

    315116

  • Contact name

    Jürgen Schwarze

  • Contact email

    jurgen.schwarze@ed.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    University of Edinburgh

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    0 years, 7 months, 30 days

  • Research summary

    Background
    Allergic rhinitis is one of the most common diseases globally, estimated to affect around 1 in 5 people in the UK, and causes substantial direct and indirect costs associated with medical expenses and reduction in work and school performance. Moreover, asthma symptoms and asthma exacerbations may be triggered in patients with concomitant allergic rhinitis and asthma who are exposed to pollens.
    Nasal corticosteroids, the single most effective medication type for controlling allergic rhinitis, has a low adherence rate and mobile health could offer a possible remedy to improve this.
    This feasibility study is needed to establish parameters and methods for a possible subsequent definitive trial and seeks to answer whether a mobile health intervention is useful for participants and whether study recruitment and assessment methods are feasible.

    Study methods
    Young adults (16-29 years) with allergic rhinitis and asthma will be invited to use a mobile app for 4 weeks during the pollen season. The app will include the following functions: medication monitoring, medication reminders, feedback, symptoms monitoring, pollen forecast, educational content. Participants will be recruited through GP practices in Scotland and England.
    Study participants will be invited pre and post intervention to complete questionnaires asking about their medication adherence, allergic rhinitis/asthma symptoms, allergic-specific quality of life, hospitalisations, allergic rhinitis/asthma knowledge, adherence habit and perceptions on app usefulness. A sub-sample of study participants will also be invited to take part in semi-structured interviews asking about their perceptions of app usefulness and acceptability of study methods and study assessments. Moreover, app engagement activity will be monitored passively during the study.
    The findings will determine whether a definitive trial is feasible to conduct in order to test the effectiveness of a mobile health intervention.

  • REC name

    Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    23/YH/0020

  • Date of REC Opinion

    15 Feb 2023

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion