Twitter handles, use of biologics linked to use of Arthritis Power app

MADRID — In patients enrolled in a data-capture registry using smartphone technology, the presence of rheumatoid arthritis, possession of a Twitter handle and use of biologics are associated with a greater likelihood of providing longitudinal patient-reported outcome data, according to a study presented at the EULAR Annual Congress.

In the study, 2,103 patients were recruited into the Arthritis Power registry, which was launched in late 2015. They were asked to voluntarily use a mobile application on their smartphones or computers to provide complete patient-reported outcomes (PROs), including the RAPID3 and 4PROMIS instruments plus disease-specific information. The researchers tracked the total number of unique days patients recorded PRO on the smartphone. Longitudinal data was defined as the contribution of at least two sets of PROs on individual calendar days.

Of the 1,946 patients who registered the smartphone app more than 3 months before, the following rates of PRO contribution were documented: 20.6% never provided any PRO data; 53.3% answered once; and 26.1% answered at least two times.

“What is interesting is we have got this quarter of the study population, 26.1%, who answered at least twice with no prompting, other than the initial advertisement or recruitment message,” study presenter W. Benjamin Nowell, PhD, told Healio Rheumatology. “This is more than 25% of patients who are coming back and answering again, without any reminders from anyone else.”

Change exceeding a minimally important difference (MID) in any of the five PRO measures was seen in 23.1% of patients who provided longitudinal data, refuting a hypothesis that patients would only contribute longitudinal data when at least one of their scores exceeded a MID of any of the five PROs.

The following factors were associated with a greater likelihood of contributing longitudinal data without regular reminders: having rheumatoid arthritis (odds ratio [OR]: 1.54); use of a biologic (OR: 2.12); and having a Twitter account (OR: 1.40).

“This study has made it clear that, although more than a quarter of the patients will complete their measures without any reminders, the majority obviously need regular prompting or reminders to do so,” Nowell said. “For most patients, it is going to be necessary to engage them with reminders to contribute the data over time.” – by Jennifer Bryne

Reference:

Nowell WB, et al. Poster #THU0643. Presented at: EULAR Annual Congress; June 14-17, 2017; Madrid.

Disclosure: Nowell reports no relevant financial disclosures.