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Presentation, Treatment, and Natural Course of Severe Symptoms of Urinary Tract Infections Measured by a Smartphone App: Observational and Feasibility Study

BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common conditions in women. Current information on the presentation, management, and natural course of the infection is based on paper diaries filled out and subsequently posted by patients. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to explor...

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Autores principales: Vellinga, Akke, Farrell, Karen, Fallon, Roisin, Hare, Daniel, Sutton-Fitzpatrick, Una, Cormican, Martin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8449294/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34477567
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/25364
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author Vellinga, Akke
Farrell, Karen
Fallon, Roisin
Hare, Daniel
Sutton-Fitzpatrick, Una
Cormican, Martin
author_facet Vellinga, Akke
Farrell, Karen
Fallon, Roisin
Hare, Daniel
Sutton-Fitzpatrick, Una
Cormican, Martin
author_sort Vellinga, Akke
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common conditions in women. Current information on the presentation, management, and natural course of the infection is based on paper diaries filled out and subsequently posted by patients. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to explore the feasibility of a smartphone app to assess the natural course and management of UTIs. METHODS: A smartphone app was developed to collect data from study participants presenting with symptoms of UTI in general practice. After initial demographic and treatment information, symptom severity was recorded by the patient after a reminder on their smartphone, which occurred twice daily for a period of 7 days or until symptom resolution. RESULTS: A total of 181 women aged 18-76 years downloaded the smartphone app. The duration of symptoms was determined from the results of 178 participants. All patients submitted a urine sample, most patients were prescribed an antibiotic (163/181, 90.1%), and 38.7% (70/181) of the patients had a positive culture. Moderately bad or worse symptoms lasted a mean of 3.8 (SD 3.2; median 4) days, and 70.2% (125/178) of the patients indicated that they were cured on day 4 after consultation. This compares with other research assessing symptom duration and management of UTIs using paper diaries. Patients were very positive about the usability of the smartphone app and often found the reminders supportive. On the basis of the feedback and the analysis of the data, some suggestions for improvement were made. CONCLUSIONS: Smartphone diaries for symptom scores over the course of infections are an efficient and acceptable means of collecting data in research.
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spelling pubmed-84492942021-10-06 Presentation, Treatment, and Natural Course of Severe Symptoms of Urinary Tract Infections Measured by a Smartphone App: Observational and Feasibility Study Vellinga, Akke Farrell, Karen Fallon, Roisin Hare, Daniel Sutton-Fitzpatrick, Una Cormican, Martin J Med Internet Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common conditions in women. Current information on the presentation, management, and natural course of the infection is based on paper diaries filled out and subsequently posted by patients. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to explore the feasibility of a smartphone app to assess the natural course and management of UTIs. METHODS: A smartphone app was developed to collect data from study participants presenting with symptoms of UTI in general practice. After initial demographic and treatment information, symptom severity was recorded by the patient after a reminder on their smartphone, which occurred twice daily for a period of 7 days or until symptom resolution. RESULTS: A total of 181 women aged 18-76 years downloaded the smartphone app. The duration of symptoms was determined from the results of 178 participants. All patients submitted a urine sample, most patients were prescribed an antibiotic (163/181, 90.1%), and 38.7% (70/181) of the patients had a positive culture. Moderately bad or worse symptoms lasted a mean of 3.8 (SD 3.2; median 4) days, and 70.2% (125/178) of the patients indicated that they were cured on day 4 after consultation. This compares with other research assessing symptom duration and management of UTIs using paper diaries. Patients were very positive about the usability of the smartphone app and often found the reminders supportive. On the basis of the feedback and the analysis of the data, some suggestions for improvement were made. CONCLUSIONS: Smartphone diaries for symptom scores over the course of infections are an efficient and acceptable means of collecting data in research. JMIR Publications 2021-09-03 /pmc/articles/PMC8449294/ /pubmed/34477567 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/25364 Text en ©Akke Vellinga, Karen Farrell, Roisin Fallon, Daniel Hare, Una Sutton-Fitzpatrick, Martin Cormican. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 03.09.2021. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Vellinga, Akke
Farrell, Karen
Fallon, Roisin
Hare, Daniel
Sutton-Fitzpatrick, Una
Cormican, Martin
Presentation, Treatment, and Natural Course of Severe Symptoms of Urinary Tract Infections Measured by a Smartphone App: Observational and Feasibility Study
title Presentation, Treatment, and Natural Course of Severe Symptoms of Urinary Tract Infections Measured by a Smartphone App: Observational and Feasibility Study
title_full Presentation, Treatment, and Natural Course of Severe Symptoms of Urinary Tract Infections Measured by a Smartphone App: Observational and Feasibility Study
title_fullStr Presentation, Treatment, and Natural Course of Severe Symptoms of Urinary Tract Infections Measured by a Smartphone App: Observational and Feasibility Study
title_full_unstemmed Presentation, Treatment, and Natural Course of Severe Symptoms of Urinary Tract Infections Measured by a Smartphone App: Observational and Feasibility Study
title_short Presentation, Treatment, and Natural Course of Severe Symptoms of Urinary Tract Infections Measured by a Smartphone App: Observational and Feasibility Study
title_sort presentation, treatment, and natural course of severe symptoms of urinary tract infections measured by a smartphone app: observational and feasibility study
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8449294/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34477567
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/25364
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