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While the evidence supporting the utility of telemedicine and Internet-based interventions in IBD is emerging, the evidence behind the efficacy of mobile phone apps in the IBD setting has been lacking.
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These apps have also been devised with limited professional medical involvement. Ĭommercially available apps in the IBD setting perform many of the same functions as those that have been studied in asthma, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis, yet several apps in the IBD setting have not been subjected to adequate clinical evaluation and have been devised without taking into consideration current evidence-based guidelines. Self-management whereby patients can adjust their therapy based on pre-determined algorithms or seek medical assessments is an emerging and promising aspect of chronic disease management that allows patients to maintain greater control over their disease. Some novel apps and mobile phone-based systems further provide functions for self-management of disease exacerbations. Apps for patients with these conditions typically have a number of common specified functions, including provision of disease information, dietary and lifestyle advice, electronic diaries for symptom tracking, and medication diaries and reminders. These diseases are similar to IBD in that they are all characterized by chronicity requiring long-term pharmacological treatment and frequent outpatient clinic visits, with intermittent flares of disease activity requiring adjustments in medication. The proliferation of mobile phones has facilitated the emergence of medical apps designed for management of chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis. Over half (56%) of US adults owned a smartphone in 2013 specifically, 79% of adults aged 18-24 and 81% of adults aged 25-34 own smartphones. Nearly half (8.67 million) of Australian adults were estimated to be using a smartphone in May 2012, which increased to 64% (11.19 million) in May 2013. The smartphone market is rapidly expanding.
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Therefore the advent of mobile phones, a technology familiar to young adults, represents an opportunity to explore a new avenue of disease management in the form of mobile phone apps.Īpps, computer programs designed specifically to be run on mobile phones and tablet personal computers, are widely available to the consumer for download from online stores. The age of disease onset in the majority of patients is in their 20s and 30s. However, the application of eHealth technologies to the IBD setting has been relatively limited. Electronic health (eHealth) technologies incorporating self-management strategies to manage patients remotely may offer an effective alternative to classical outpatient-based approaches. IBD is associated with an increased prevalence of physical and psychological morbidity, and it adversely affects quality of life, societal interaction, and functioning. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) including Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) is a group of chronic inflammatory disorders of the intestine that have a relapsing and remitting disease course.