Early Detection of Lower Adherence to Long-Term e-Diary Recording: A Checkpoint to Target Early Educational...

Area of Science:

• Allergy and immunology
• Digital health
• Patient-reported outcomes

Background:

• Digital symptom monitoring via e-Diaries aids chronic disease management, particularly for conditions like pollen allergies with trigger-induced exacerbations.
• Patient attrition remains a significant challenge for sustained e-Diary use in unsupervised settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate adherence to e-Diary reporting in pollen-allergic patients within a blended care model.
• To identify early determinants and predictors of adherence among patients with diverse cultural backgrounds.

Main Methods:

• An observational multicenter study (@IT.2020) involving 815 patients (adults and children) with seasonal allergic rhinitis across seven Southern European/Mediterranean countries.
• Data collection included baseline characteristics via questionnaires, skin prick tests, serum specific IgE, and daily e-Diary symptom recording (AllergyMonitor, TPS).

Main Results:

• Average adherence completion rate was 75.2% over a 106-day period, with children (≥10 years) showing 73.8% adherence without parental support.
• Two adherence clusters were identified: stable 'higher' and variable 'lower'. Adherence was weakly linked to disease severity but not demographics or digital literacy.
• Early adherence (first 3 weeks) strongly predicted long-term adherence, with 87.6% of initially low-adherent patients remaining so.

Conclusions:

• High adherence to e-Diary use was observed in pollen-allergic patients within a blended care setting, independent of age and cultural background.
• Early detection of patients with lower adherence is feasible and can guide timely interventions to enhance sustained engagement.