Using technology to improve the care of adolescents with arthritis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving care and outcomes in adolescent arthritis through patient input, telemonitoring, and personalised feedback
IRAS ID
163454
Contact name
Despina Eleftheriou
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Child Health
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, months, days
Research summary
Arthritis starting in childhood or adolescence (known as juvenile idiopathic arthritis, JIA) causes joint pain and swelling leading to problems with educational, social and physical development of young people. The treatment of JIA requires regular attendance at hospitals, and therapies may have unpleasant side effects and need to be monitored with frequent blood tests. This occurs at a time of immense personal change and increasing responsibility, and clinical problems that arise as a consequence include low engagement with health care providers (~20-25% of appointments missed), low adherence to medication prescribed, and lack of exercise and sport.
The current project will explore how new technology can be utilized to support self-management, promote healthcare services, and optimize health outcomes by improving the quality of information available to clinicians and patients. With the input of patients and clinicians, the research team will develop a comprehensive system (smartphone application) that helps patients monitor their symptoms and input data remotely. These include filling in questionnaires remotely in order to provide patients with feedback on the fluctuations of, and to understand the relationship between, symptoms, behaviours, and affect.
The aims of this project are therefore to a) improve young people’s engagement with, understanding of, and monitoring of, their arthritis and treatment through the use of novel technology (smartphone app); b) reduce missed appointments and make communications with doctors and appointments attended more efficient by capturing and feeding back personalized data (disease activity, lifestyle data, blood tests) via a smartphone app before clinic, and by including data deemed vital by young people themselves; and c) improve the nature and regularity of exercise in young people.
REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/1288
Date of REC Opinion
22 Sep 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion