The Lupus Research Alliance and Pfizer Inc. recently began a non-interventional clinical study to test a smartphone app that allows lupus patients to report their symptoms and fatigue patterns.
“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 M. Farber, co-CEO and co-president of the Lupus Research Alliance, said in a press 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.”
By using a smartphone, data and feedback will be much easier to compile compared to regular visits to the doctor’s office. The study, called Validation in Lupus of an Electronic Patient Reported Outcomes Tool (VALUE), will begin at the end of this month and will allow patients to use a smartphone to record and report symptoms of their disease.
The app, developed by the alliance, Pfizer and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., was created with the Apple ResearchKit and will provide real-time questionnaire data to physicians.
