title: Smartphone application for rheumatoid arthritis self-management: cross-sectional study revealed the usefulness, willingness to use and patients' needs.
abstract: Patient-centered smartphone applications have potential to support rheumatoid arthritis (RA) self-management but remain almost unexplored in literature. Therefore, this study evaluated the usefulness of a smartphone application to support RA self-management, the willingness of RA patients to use and pay for it and the features the application should have. In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire was developed to collect information on population, device ownership, usefulness and willingness to use and pay for a RA self-management application and application features. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, t test or Mann-Whitney's test and multivariate analysis were used. One hundred RA patients answered the questionnaire. Patients' mean age was 57 ± 11.9 years, most were females (91 %), with multiple drug regimens and a 40 % treatment non-compliance rate. Most patients believed that could have a more active role in self-management (94 %) and reported it would be useful to develop a RA self-management application (86 %). Patients willing to use an application (83 %) were younger, with a possible more active role in self-management, with access to a smartphone, and using short message service, electronic mail and Internet. Multivariate analysis confirmed these results, except the associations regarding access to a smartphone and use of electronic mail and Internet. Fifty-eight patients (82 %) were willing to pay for a RA self-management application and the most requested feature for it was information in a simple format. This study suggested the usefulness and patients' willingness to use and pay for a RA self-management application and provided insight on patients' needs.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto (FMUP), Al. Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319, Porto, Portugal. rita.pereir@hotmail.com.|Molecular Oncology Group CI, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto (IPO-Porto), Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072, Porto, Portugal. rita.pereir@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto (FMUP), Al. Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319, Porto, Portugal. mbernardes09@gmail.com.|Rheumatology Department, São João Hospital Center, Al. Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319, Porto, Portugal. mbernardes09@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernardes
authors.affiliation: CINTESIS-Centre for Research in Health Technologies and Information Systems, Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto (FMUP), Al. Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 , Porto, Portugal. jfonseca@med.up.pt.
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fonseca
authors.affiliation: Molecular Oncology Group CI, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto (IPO-Porto), Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 4200-072, Porto, Portugal. aurea.lima@iscsn.cespu.pt.|Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies, CESPU, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, 4585-116, Gandra-PRD, Portugal. aurea.lima@iscsn.cespu.pt.
authors.forename: Aurea
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9779-0584
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lima
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012648:Self Care; D000068997:Smartphone; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents
keywords: Application; Cellular phone; Health-related quality of life; Patient-centered care; Rheumatoid arthritis; Self-management; Smartphone