First name
Linda
Last name
Fleisher

Title

Understanding Adolescent and Young Adult 6-Mercaptopurine Adherence and mHealth Engagement During Cancer Treatment: Protocol for Ecological Momentary Assessment.

Year of Publication

2021

Number of Pages

e32789

Date Published

2021 Oct 22

ISSN Number

1929-0748

Abstract

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer demonstrate suboptimal oral chemotherapy adherence, increasing their risk of cancer relapse. It is unclear how everyday time-varying contextual factors (eg, mood) affect their adherence, stalling the development of personalized mobile health (mHealth) interventions. Poor engagement is also a challenge across mHealth trials; an effective adherence intervention must be engaging to promote uptake.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>This protocol aims to determine the temporal associations between daily contextual factors and 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) adherence and explore the proximal impact of various engagement strategies on ecological momentary assessment survey completion.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>At the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, AYAs with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or lymphoma who are prescribed prolonged maintenance chemotherapy that includes daily oral 6-MP are eligible, along with their matched caregivers. Participants will use an ecological momentary assessment app called ADAPTS (Adherence Assessments and Personalized Timely Support)-a version of an open-source app that was modified for AYAs with cancer through a user-centered process-and complete surveys in bursts over 6 months. Theory-informed engagement strategies will be microrandomized to estimate the causal effects on proximal survey completion.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>With funding from the National Cancer Institute and institutional review board approval, of the proposed 30 AYA-caregiver dyads, 60% (18/30) have been enrolled; of the 18 enrolled, 15 (83%) have completed the study so far.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>This protocol represents an important first step toward prescreening tailoring variables and engagement components for a just-in-time adaptive intervention designed to promote both 6-MP adherence and mHealth engagement.</p>

<p><strong>INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): </strong>DERR1-10.2196/32789.</p>

DOI

10.2196/32789

Alternate Title

JMIR Res Protoc

PMID

34677129
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Title

Contextual Predictors of Engagement in a Tailored mHealth Intervention for Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors.

Year of Publication

2021

Number of Pages

Date Published

2021 Mar 01

ISSN Number

1532-4796

Abstract

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Despite the promise of mobile health (mHealth), engagement is often too low for durable health behavior change, and little is known regarding why certain individuals abandon mHealth tools.</p>

<p><strong>PURPOSE: </strong>Guided by a mHealth engagement framework, we evaluated contextual predictors of objective engagement with an app for adolescents and young adults (AYA) who survived cancer.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>One hundred and ten AYA survivors (M age = 20.5, 43% female, 30% racial/ethnic minority) were randomized to receive a disease self-management app that delivered 1-2 tailored messages/day for 16 weeks, and contained a survivorship care plan (SCP). Demographic, disease, psychosocial, and setting characteristics were examined as predictors of three objective engagement outcomes: (a) % of active app days, (b) % of messages read, and (c) viewed SCP in the app versus not. A subsample (n = 10) completed qualitative interviews to further assess engagement barriers.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Self-reported uninterrupted app access (β = -0.56, p &lt; .001), iPhone (vs. Android) ownership (β = 0.30, p &lt; .001), and receiving the intervention in the summer (β = -0.20, p = .01) predicted more active days. Lower depressed mood (β = -0.30, p = .047) and uninterrupted app access (β = -0.50, p &lt; .001) predicted more messages read. Qualitatively, technical glitches and competing priorities were described as engagement barriers, whereas certain types of messages (e.g., health goal messages) were perceived as engaging. Among participants who had uninterrupted app access (n = 76), higher baseline motivation to change, better health perceptions, using the app during the summer, and iPhone ownership predicted higher engagement.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Findings demonstrate the importance of comprehensively assessing and planning for multi-level ecological determinants of mHealth engagement in future trials.</p>

<p><strong>CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER: </strong>NCT03363711.</p>

DOI

10.1093/abm/kaab008

Alternate Title

Ann Behav Med

PMID

33674863
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Title

Perceptions and Attitudes Toward Mobile Health in Development of an Exclusive Breastfeeding Tool: Focus Group Study With Caregivers and Health Promoters in the Dominican Republic.

Year of Publication

2020

Number of Pages

e20312

Date Published

2020 Aug 21

ISSN Number

2561-6722

Abstract

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Despite growing interest in the use of technology to improve health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), local attitudes toward mobile health (mHealth) use in these settings are minimally understood. This is especially true in the Dominican Republic, where mHealth interventions are starting to emerge. This information is critical for developing effective mHealth interventions to address public health issues, such as low exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rates, which can lead to poor outcomes. With an EBF rate of 5% in the first 6 months of life, the Dominican Republic has one of the lowest EBF rates worldwide.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>This study aims to describe the current use of information and communication technology (ICT) and to analyze the attitudes and perceptions related to using mHealth interventions among caregivers of children aged ≤5 years and health promoters in the Dominican Republic. Findings can inform mHealth strategies aimed at improving EBF in this, and other, LMICs.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>Participants were recruited from 3 outpatient sites: the Niños Primeros en Salud program at Centro de Salud Divina Providencia in Consuelo (rural setting) and Clínica de Familia La Romana and its program Módulo de Adolescentes Materno Infantil in La Romana (urban setting). Focus groups were conducted with caregivers and community health promoters to identify the use, attitudes, perceptions, and acceptability of mHealth as well as barriers to EBF. Discussions were conducted in Spanish, guided by semistructured interview guides. All sessions were audio-recorded and later transcribed. Thematic content analysis was conducted in Spanish by two bilingual researchers and was structured around a hybrid behavioral theory framework to identify salient themes.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>All participants (N=35) reported having a mobile phone, and 29 (83%) participants had a smartphone. Sources for obtaining health information included the internet, physicians and clinic, family and friends, health promoters, and television. Barriers to mHealth use included the cost of internet service, privacy concerns, and perceived credibility of information sources. Participants indicated the desire for, and willingness to use, an mHealth intervention to support breastfeeding. The desired features of a possible mHealth intervention included offering diverse methods of information delivery such as images and video content, text messages, and person-to-person interaction as well as notifications for appointments, vaccines, and feeding schedules. Other important considerations were internet-free access and content that included maternal and child health self-management topics beyond breastfeeding.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>There is a high level of acceptance of ICT tools for breastfeeding promotion among caregivers in urban and rural areas of the Dominican Republic. As mHealth tools can contribute to increased breastfeeding self-efficacy, identifying desirable features of such a tool is necessary to create an effective intervention. Participants wanted to receive trusted and reliable information through various formats and were interested in information beyond breastfeeding.</p>

DOI

10.2196/20312

Alternate Title

JMIR Pediatr Parent

PMID

32821063
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Title

Usability, Acceptability, and Impact of a Pediatric Teledermatology Mobile Health Application.

Year of Publication

2018

Number of Pages

236-45

Date Published

2018 Mar

ISSN Number

1556-3669

Abstract

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>Pediatric dermatology appointment wait times often exceed several months. We evaluated the usability, acceptability, and clinical impact of a store-and-forward teledermatology mobile application (app) linking families with pediatric dermatologists.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>Parents of children age 6 weeks to 17 years or individuals 18-21 years old were invited (by e-mail or referral) to participate in this single group, prospective study. Within the app, users photographed the skin condition, answered questions, and submitted their case for review. One pediatric dermatologist viewed cases, diagnosed conditions, and provided instructions and prescriptions. User surveys immediately following app use and 1 week later, supplemented by electronic logs, assessed usability, acceptability, and impact.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>One hundred ninety-seven parents and one adolescent submitted cases within 39 days of invitation. App users were more likely to be white than those in the population invited (67% vs. 34%, p &lt; 0.001) and their children were slightly younger (mean 7.3 vs. 9.0 years, p &lt; 0.001). A majority, 83% found the app easy to use, 97% felt that submitting a case took "the right amount of time," 87% were satisfied, and 93% would use the app again. Prescription receipt was associated with increased app satisfaction (p = 0.008). The median user received a response in 2.8 h (interquartile range 1.1-6.4). Had the app been unavailable, 44% reported that they would have waited for primary care, 32% for a dermatology appointment, and 7% would have gone to an urgent care clinic.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>A mobile health app allowing families to directly consult a pediatric dermatologist was usable, acceptable, and expedited care.</p>

DOI

10.1089/tmj.2017.0075

Alternate Title

Telemed J E Health

PMID

28731848
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