Evaluating a Smartphone App-Based Module for Joint Self-Assessment as a Complementary Tool in Rheumatoid Arthritis...

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology
• Digital Health
• Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) management benefits from accurate disease activity monitoring.
• Telehealth and remote patient monitoring are increasingly integrated into rheumatology care.
• Patient self-assessment tools can complement clinical evaluations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and assess a novel patient-facing application for self-guided joint examinations.
• To evaluate the tool's utility as an adjunct to telehealth in rheumatoid arthritis management.

Main Methods:

• A community-based rheumatology network enrolled 100 RA patients.
• An in-app module guided patients through self-conducted physical joint examinations.
• Patient-derived joint counts were compared with physician assessments using scatter plots and regression models.

Main Results:

• Patients generally reported more tender and swollen joints than physicians.
• Stronger correlation was observed between patient and provider tender joint counts (r=0.5) than swollen joint counts (r=0.33).
• Patient-derived scores accurately predicted low disease activity/remission but tended to overestimate active disease.

Conclusions:

• The developed patient-facing tool shows relevance for remote therapeutic monitoring in rheumatology.
• Findings offer insights into necessary patient training and patient selection for effective remote RA monitoring.
• This technology can enhance the application of telehealth in managing rheumatoid arthritis.