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Digital application developed to evaluate functional results following robot-assisted radical prostatectomy

Authors :
Sabrina T. Reis
Carlo C. Passerotti
Gabriel Arantes Dos Santos
Katia R. M. Leite
Geraldo Xavier
José Arnaldo Shiomi da Cruz
Gabriela Q. Amaral
Leandro Freitas Faria
Daniel Ilias
Ruan Pimenta
Nayara I. Viana
Felipe Fakhouri
Miguel Srougi
Source :
Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine. 197:105683
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
Elsevier BV, 2020.

Abstract

Introduction Mobile applications (“apps”) developed for smartphones and tablets are increasingly used in healthcare, allowing remote patient support or promoting self-health care. Prostate cancer (PC) screening allows for early-stage PC diagnosis, resulting in high rates of curative procedures such as radical prostatectomy. The main complications following surgery are urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. However, the exact numbers related to these morbidities are often missing due to brief interviews during consultations in the medical office. Therefore, the aim of this study was to create an app to determine whether response rates to pre- and post-surgical PC questionnaires will increase. Methods The app was built using the IONIC framework system and provided to patients through a prospective randomized study. We included 100 patients divided into two groups: 1. first group used the app (n = 50); and 2. second group responded via validated printed questionnaires (control group) (n = 50). All patients received discharge counseling to respond to the questionnaires 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the procedure. The app group received verbal guidance on how monitoring would occur, received an SMS containing a username and password providing access to the system and received reminder alerts to respond to the questionnaires. Results The new app is called UroHealth and is available for download in the Apple App Store or at www.urohealth.com.br . When we evaluated the response rates, we found that 42.9% of the patients answered the preoperative questionnaire in the app group, while 16% responded in the control group (p = 0.003). By the end of the follow-up, we found that 24.5% of the patients answered the questionnaire in the app group, while 4% responded in the control group (p = 0.003). Conclusion This app enabled almost 6 times more patients to answer long-term follow-up questions after surgical procedures, providing high-quality information regarding morbidity related to treatment. Although our initial results indicate that this app may become a useful tool in obtaining more frequent and realistic answers, thus helping to improve surgical techniques, other ways of reaching the patient should be tested to achieve higher response rates.

Details

ISSN :
01692607
Volume :
197
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........d3388d14b6b11674074970509fce87c8
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmpb.2020.105683