Dose Tracker Application for Collecting Medication Use Data from International Space Station Crew

Area of Science:

• Spaceflight pharmacology
• Human physiology in space
• Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics

Background:

• Significant knowledge gaps exist in spaceflight pharmacology due to limited in-flight data.
• Understanding medication use and its effects in space is crucial for astronaut health and mission success.

Purpose of the Study:

• To collect in-mission medication use data from astronaut crewmembers.
• To investigate spaceflight-associated changes in pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD).
• To assess the usability of a mobile application for collecting medication data.

Main Methods:

• An iOS application was developed to record medication name, dose, frequency, indication, efficacy, and side effects.
• Data was collected from volunteer astronaut crewmembers during spaceflight and ground control.
• 24 subjects were approved, with 6 completing flight data and 5 completing ground data collection.

Main Results:

• Over 5766 medication entries were recorded, averaging 20.6 entries per subject per flight week.
• Common indications included sleep disturbances and muscle/joint pain; prolonged skin issues were also treated.
• The application was used for drug tolerance testing, medication holidays, and data sharing with flight surgeons.

Conclusions:

• The volume of data collected significantly exceeds previous efforts, demonstrating the potential of app-based tools.
• Despite usability criticisms, the data collected is valuable for researchers and clinicians.
• Improvements in application design could enhance astronaut acceptability and create a robust data collection tool for spaceflight pharmacology.