Monitoring Risk Factors and Improving Adherence to Therapy in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease (Smit-CKD...

Area of Science:

• Digital health
• Medical informatics
• Cardiorenal medicine

Background:

• Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects millions globally, increasing mortality and cardiovascular risks.
• Poor adherence to therapy exacerbates cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in CKD patients.
• Mobile health (mHealth) offers a potential solution for patient self-monitoring and education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an integrated server and mobile application system (Smit-CKD) for enhanced self-monitoring of cardiorenal risk factors.
• To improve medication adherence among patients with chronic kidney disease.
• To facilitate real-time data sharing between patients and general practitioners.

Main Methods:

• Development of a multiplatform mobile app (Android/iOS) and a server infrastructure using open-source tools.
• Field testing of the integrated Smit-CKD system with 22 participants.
• Evaluation of user satisfaction, adherence to therapy, and app usage through questionnaires and daily reports.

Main Results:

• The Smit-CKD app enables real-time monitoring of blood pressure, weight, and blood glucose, transmitting data to general practitioners.
• Medication adherence improved significantly, rising from 64% to 82% after 6 months of app use.
• Both the app and server components demonstrated high user acceptance and were well-tolerated by CKD patients.

Conclusions:

• A mobile app for self-monitoring of modifiable cardiorenal risk factors and therapy adherence is well-tolerated by CKD patients.
• The integrated system shows potential for improving long-term adherence and clinical outcomes in CKD management.
• Further research is needed to confirm the long-term impact of this mHealth intervention on patient outcomes.