Health-tracking apps are useful for shared decision-making, according to a recent study that showed that eczema patients were willing to use disease progress and treatment tracking apps, providing valuable information to clinicians.
Using mobile apps can contribute to disease management and may particularly be useful for improving shared decision-making (SDM), which can improve patient outcomes for a chronic skin health issue such as eczema. Having structured tools that can facilitate discussion has long been identified as one of the unmet needs among eczema patients and caregivers; however, very little is known about the willingness of eczema patients to use tools like mobile apps to keep track of their symptoms and treatments.
This research aimed to characterize eczema patients and caregivers who used the EczemaWise disease tracking app. The study was supported by the National Eczema Association, and its findings were published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Eczema Patients and Caregivers Willing to Use Health Tracking Apps
In the study, researchers analyzed the data of EczemaWise app users in the U.S. who registered their profiles between October 12, 2020 and August 20, 2022, for symptom and treatment tracking. The app includes a number of tracking abilities, such as saving information about symptoms of skin itch, pain, sleep, stress, triggers, diet, and treatment. It also has an option for uploading images and helps keep track of prescription and non-prescription medications.
Data from 3286 users with a total of 26,485 app opens were analyzed. The study found that 81% of the users were patients, and the rest were caregivers. About 8% of users had well-controlled eczema, 25% were accustomed to dealing with eczema but wanted better management, 14% were new to eczema and seeking help, 34% reported that they were trying to control their eczema but needed help, and 18% were users who had tried everything and nothing worked.
Overwhelmingly, users were female (75%) and White (61%). Fourteen percent of users were Asian, and 9% were Black. The average age of users was 29.9 years (± 17.6). Of the total app opens, 61% were tracking sessions of 2,112 users, with an average of 7.3 tracking sessions/year. Interestingly, 64% of skin tracker days also included uploaded photos, with a mean photo count of 3.6. Similarly, patients also actively used mobile apps to track treatments.
The Bottom Line
This is one of the first studies regarding eczema patient and caregiver readiness for using mobile health apps for tracking symptoms and treatment. The study had encouraging findings, as it found that nearly two-thirds of app users interacted with the app and used it for disease tracking. Although adding photos was optional, two-thirds of patients uploaded their photos. Users utilized the app to track various aspects of the disease, from keeping symptom records to keeping track of treatment.
Source:
Thibau, I. & Begolka, W.S. (2023). 40436 Eczema Patient and Caregiver Willingness to Engage in a Mobile Health App for Disease Management and Shared Decision Making. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 89(3), https://www.jaad.org/article/S0190-9622(23)01523-2/abstract
