Evaluation of More Stamina, a Mobile App for Fatigue Management in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis: Protocol for a Feasibility, Acceptability, and Usability Study

Abstract

Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the world’s most common neurologic disorders leading to severe disability in young adults. MS-related fatigue directly impacts on the quality of life and activity levels of people with MS. Self-management strategies are used to support them in the care of their health. Mobile health (mHealth) solutions can offer tools to help symptom management. Following a user-centered design and evidence-based process, an mHealth solution called More Stamina was created to help persons with MS manage their fatigue. Objective The overall study aims are to explore the feasibility, acceptability, and usability of More Stamina, a mobile app for fatigue self-management for persons with MS. Methods A mixed-methods, multicenter study will be used to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and usability of More Stamina. The study will take place during the third and fourth quarters of 2020 (Q3-Q4 2020) in 3 locations: Argentina, Spain, and Switzerland. A longitudinal cohort study will take place, and think-aloud protocols, open-ended interviews, and short answer questionnaires will be used. Persons with MS will be recruited from the different locations. This study seeks to enroll at least 20 patients that meet the criteria from each site for the longitudinal cohort study (total n=60). Results Ethical approval has been granted in Argentina and is pending in Spain and Switzerland. Outcomes will be published in peer-reviewed medical journals and presented at international conferences. Conclusions Findings from this study will be used to help understand the role that mHealth can play in fatigue management in MS. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04244214; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04244214 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/18196

Profiles of eHealth Adoption in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis and Their Caregivers

“…Therefore, a very high frequency in the use of HIT was not necessary for a successful adoption of eHealth services. Mobile applications that offer self-tracking and optimization options such as physical or cognitive trainings may be seen as one option that justifies a more frequent use of web-based services for MS [11,29].…”

Digital therapeutics in neurology

“…Beyond sensorimotor and cognitive impairment, DTx could address other neurological symptoms (visual dysfunction, speech impairment, dysphagia, fatigue, depression, and pain) occurring in neurological disorders [54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67].…”

“…Following a user-centered design and evidence-based process, a mobile health solution called "More Stamina" was created to help patients with multiple sclerosis to manage their fatigue. An ongoing trial is exploring the feasibility, acceptability, and usability of "More Stamina" [59]. It is a gamified task organization tool aiming to help people with multiple sclerosis managing their energy, minimizing the impact of fatigue on their daily life.…”

“…It is a gamified task organization tool aiming to help people with multiple sclerosis managing their energy, minimizing the impact of fatigue on their daily life. The tool acts as a to-do list where users can input the task they want to accomplish that day [59].…”

Electronic Health Interventions in the Case of Multiple Sclerosis: From Theory to Practice

“…In addition to online offers, gamification is a playful way to train physical and cognitive areas, even if it does not replace telerehabilitation [ 26 ]. To improve sensory strategies, pwMS can use gamification intervention such as Nintendo ® Wii ® Balance Board ® (Nintendo, Kyoto, Japan), Xbox 360 ® (Microsoft, Redmond, WA, USA) and Kinect console (Microsoft, Redmond, WA, USA) [ 65 , 66 ], More Stamina [ 67 ] or BrainHQ ® tool (PositScience, San Francisco, CA, USA) [ 68 ]. Visual feedback exercises can be used to train balance [ 69 ].…”