A custom smartphone app for lupus patients will be tested in a non-interventional clinical trial called VALUE, the Lupus Research Alliance and Pfizer Inc. said.
The app will allow lupus patients to report symptoms, such as pain and fatigue, in real time. Previously, doctors collected patient reports on paper surveys, which depended on the patient's memory rather than ongoing data collection.
“The current paper methods of collecting patient-reported data can be cumbersome and inconvenient, and often depend on memory,” Pfizer Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Freda Lewis-Hall said in a release. "VALUE holds promise for ‘in the moment’ reporting of symptoms and may open the door to similar tools being used in Pfizer-sponsored clinical studies for lupus and other diseases."
The VALUE study will begin at the end of May. Enrolled patients will be able to submit self assessments of their symptoms over two months. The results of the data collection through the app will be compared with the paper surveys collected in doctors' offices.
“This is an important step in demonstrating that mobile technology can improve how and what patients report to their care teams about subjective but serious symptoms of lupus, such as debilitating fatigue,” Kenneth Farber, Lupus Research Alliance co-CEO and co-president, said in the release. “This app may enable more frequent and consistent reporting from patients, thus providing better information for care teams and empowering patients to take a larger role in developing future therapies.”
