How are patients with chronic urticaria interested in using information and communication technologies to guide their healthcare? A UCARE study

Abstract

Background Patients with chronic urticaria (CU) are increasingly using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to manage their health. What CU patients expect from ICTs and which ICTs they prefer remains unknown. We assessed why CU patients use ICTs, which ones they prefer, and what drives their expectations and choices. Methods In this cross-sectional study, 1841 patients across 17 countries were recruited at UCAREs (Urticaria Centers of Reference and Excellence). Patients with CU who were >12 years old completed a 23-item questionnaire. Results Most patients were interested in receiving disease information (87.3%), asking physicians about CU (84.1%), and communicating with other patients through ICTs (65.6%). For receiving disease information, patients preferred one-to-one and one-to-many ICTs, especially web browsers. One-to-one ICTs were also the ICTs of choice for asking physicians about urticaria and for communicating with other patients, and e-mail and WhatsApp were the preferred ICTs, respectively. Many-to-many ICTs such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter were least preferred for all 3 purposes. Living in rural areas and higher education were linked to higher odds of being interested in receiving disease information, asking physicians, and communicating with patients through ICTs. Conclusions Most patients and especially patients with higher education who live in rural areas are interested in using ICTs for their healthcare, but prefer different ICTs for different purposes, ie, web browsers for obtaining information, e-mail for asking physicians, and WhatsApp for communicating with other patients. Our findings may help to improve ICTs for CU.

Chronic urticaria patients are interested in apps to monitor their disease activity and control: A UCARE CURICT analysis

“…In the recent Urticaria Centers of Reference and Excellence (UCARE) study, chronic urticaria information and communication technologies (CURICT), we assessed use and interest in information and communications technologies (ICTs) for patients with chronic urticaria (CU). 1 , 2 We found that almost all CU patients had access to ICTs and most were using these regularly to obtain health and disease‐related information. 1 Specifically, most patients with CU were interested in ICTs to receive disease information and to communicate with their physicians and other patients about their urticaria.…”

“…The scope, methodology, conduct, and other results of the CURICT study have been previously reported. 1 , 2 Patients were ≥12 years old and previously diagnosed with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) or chronic inducible urticaria (CIndU) by a physician; those with other dermatological diseases or intellectual disabilities were excluded. A 23‐item questionnaire, designed, evaluated, and reviewed by an expert panel of physicians that collected demographic (age, gender, education level, living area, etc) and clinical information (urticaria type, years with diagnosis, etc.)…”

“…Furthermore, participants were asked to quantify their interest using a scale (not interested, slightly interested, moderately interested, very interested, and extremely interested). 1 , 2 …”

“…Here, we analyzed patient responses to the CURICT questions on the use of apps for urticaria‐related purposes. As previously published, the 23‐item questionnaire 2 was completed by 1841 CU patients from 17 UCAREs across 17 countries. The majority of respondents had chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU; 63%; 18% CIndU; 19% with both), were female (70%) and lived in urban areas (75%) with a mean age of 41 years, and ∼4 years of disease duration.…”

“… 1 Specifically, most patients with CU were interested in ICTs to receive disease information and to communicate with their physicians and other patients about their urticaria. 2 …”