ArticleJMIR mHealth and uHealth2017
Cloudy with a Chance of Pain: Engagement and Subsequent Attrition of Daily Data Entry in a Smartphone Pilot Study Tracking Weather, Disease Severity, and Physical Activity in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Article in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Co-designing interventions for patients with inflammatory arthritis: a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Engagement and attrition with eHealth tools for remote monitoring in chronic arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.RMD open · 2022Pooled it
- Experiences With a Multicomponent Digital Behavioral Pain Management Intervention for Adults With Sickle Cell Disease: Qualitative Analysis of the CaRISMA Trial.JMIR human factors · 2025Trial
- Outcomes of a Mobile App to Monitor Patient-Reported Outcomes in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2021Trial
- Smartphone-Delivered Progressive Muscle Relaxation for the Treatment of Migraine in Primary Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Headache · 2020Trial
- The association between greenness exposure and arthritis in middle-aged and older Chinese adults, mediated by climate factors.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Patterns and predictors of variability in patient-generated daily pain severity collected via a mobile health smartphone app.PloS one · 2026Article
- Predictors of adherence to a digital health application in patients with inflammatory arthritis: retrospective analysis.Rheumatology international · 2025Article
- Regulatory Interactions and Learnings-RADIAL the Trials@Home Proof-of-Concept Trial on Decentralization.Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics · 2025Article
- Collecting patient-reported outcomes via the COTIDIANA smartphone app: a prospective validity study.RMD open · 2025Article
- Longitudinal and Combined Smartwatch and Ecological Momentary Assessment in Racially Diverse Older Adults: Feasibility, Adherence, and Acceptability Study.JMIR human factors · 2025Article
- Identification of key factors related to digital health observational study adherence and retention by data-driven approaches: an exploratory secondary analysis of two prospective longitudinal studies.The Lancet. Digital health · 2025Article
- Remote monitoring of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in a low disease activity state: a mixed methods evaluation across six hospitals in London, UK.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- The Digital Platform and Its Emerging Role in Decentralized Clinical Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Value of Engagement in Digital Health Technology Research: Evidence Across 6 Unique Cohort Studies.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Article
- Citizen involvement in research on technological innovations for health, care or well-being: a scoping review.Health research policy and systems · 2024Article
- Impact of humid climate on rheumatoid arthritis faecal microbiome and metabolites.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Mobile Health Fitness Interventions: Impact of Features on Routine Use and Data Sharing Acceptability.JACC. Advances · 2023Article
- Machine Learning Approaches to Classify Self-Reported Rheumatoid Arthritis Health Scores Using Activity Tracker Data: Longitudinal Observational Study.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Modelling and classifying joint trajectories of self-reported mood and pain in a large cohort study.PLOS digital health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe increasing ownership of smartphones provides major opportunities for epidemiological research through self-reported and passively collected data.
objectiveThis pilot study aimed to codesign a smartphone app to assess associations between weather and joint pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to study the success of daily self-reported data entry over a 60-day period and the enablers of and barriers to data collection.
methodsA patient and public involvement group (n=5) and 2 focus groups of patients with RA (n=9) supported the codesign of the app collecting self-reported symptoms. A separate "capture app" was designed to collect global positioning system (GPS) and continuous raw accelerometer data, with the GPS-linking providing local weather data. A total of 20 patients with RA were then recruited to collect daily data for 60 days, with entry and exit interviews. Of these, 17 were loaned an Android smartphone, whereas 3 used their own Android smartphones.
resultsOf the 20 patients, 6 (30%) withdrew from the study: 4 because of technical challenges and 2 for health reasons. The mean completion of daily entries was 68% over 2 months. Patients entered data at least five times per week 65% of the time. Reasons for successful engagement included a simple graphical user interface, automated reminders, visualization of data, and eagerness to contribute to this easily understood research question. The main barrier to continuing engagement was impaired battery life due to the accelerometer data capture app. For some, successful engagement required ongoing support in using the smartphones.
conclusionsThis successful pilot study has demonstrated that daily data collection using smartphones for health research is feasible and achievable with high levels of ongoing engagement over 2 months. This result opens important opportunities for large-scale longitudinal epidemiological research.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.