Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35818342›Full record

Trial reportArthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.)2022

Smartphone-Assisted Patient-Initiated Care Versus Usual Care in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis and Low Disease Activity: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Bart Seppen, Jimmy Wiegel, Marieke M Ter Wee, Dirkjan van Schaardenburg, Leo D Roorda, Michael T Nurmohamed, Maarten Boers, Wouter H Bos

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
9.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

44 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 69 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Bart SeppenReade Rheumatology, and the Department of Rheumatology, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-0421-0553
Jimmy WiegelReade Rheumatology, and the Department of Rheumatology, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-9073-7388
Marieke M Ter WeeDepartment of Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Dirkjan van SchaardenburgReade Rheumatology, and the Department of Rheumatology, Amsterdam UMC, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Leo D RoordaReade Rehabilitation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Michael T NurmohamedReade Rheumatology, and the Department of Rheumatology, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Maarten BoersReade Rheumatology, and the Department of Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam UMC, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-6969-283X
Wouter H BosReade Rheumatology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Reade · NLAmsterdam UMC Location University of Amsterdam · NLAmsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveWe developed a smartphone application for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that allows them to self-monitor their disease activity in between clinic visits by answering a weekly Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3. This study was undertaken to assess the safety (noninferiority in the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints using the erythrocyte sedimentation rate [DAS28-ESR]) and efficacy (reduction in number of visits) of patient-initiated care assisted using a smartphone app, compared to usual care.

methodsA 12-month, randomized, noninferiority clinical trial was conducted in RA patients with low disease activity and without treatment changes in the past 6 months. Patients were randomized 1:1 to either app-supported patient-initiated care with a scheduled follow-up consultation after a year (app intervention group) or usual care. The coprimary outcome measures were noninferiority in terms of change in DAS28-ESR score after 12 months and the ratio of the mean number of consultations with rheumatologists between the groups. The noninferiority limit was 0.5 difference in DAS28-ESR between the groups.

resultsOf the 103 randomized patients, 102 completed the study. After a year, noninferiority in terms of the DAS28-ESR score was established, as the 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of the mean ΔDAS28-ESR between the groups was within the noninferiority limit: -0.04 in favor of the app intervention group (95% CI -0.39, 0.30). The number of rheumatologist consultations was significantly lower in the app intervention group compared to the usual care group (mean ± SD 1.7 ± 1.8 versus 2.8 ± 1.4; visit ratio 0.62 [95% CI 0.47, 0.81]).

conclusionPatient-initiated care supported by smartphone self-monitoring was noninferior to usual care in terms of the ΔDAS28-ESR and led to a 38% reduction in rheumatologist consultations in RA patients with stable low disease activity.

Indexed as

Antirheumatic AgentsArthritis, RheumatoidHumansSeverity of Illness IndexSmartphoneTreatment OutcomeAntirheumatic Agents

Identifiers

PMID35818342
PMCPMC9826407
OpenAlexW4285032010

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.