Improving access to gut‐directed hypnotherapy for irritable bowel syndrome in the digital therapeutics' era: Are mobile applications a “smart” solution?

Abstract

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Clinical trial: predictive factors for response to gut‐directed hypnotherapy for refractory irritable bowel syndrome, a post hoc analysis

“…These findings have implications for improving access by doubling the throughput of services, thereby reducing the costs of provision and waiting times 4 . Other recent initiatives to widen hypnotherapy access have included group delivery, 20–23,32 remote delivery of individualised therapy via video platforms 33,34 and self‐directed digital gut‐directed hypnotherapy delivery via Smartphone applications 35 . However, despite these developments, outcomes from patient satisfaction surveys, 36 and data from self‐directed gut‐directed hypnotherapy via digital applications where compliance is low, 37 suggest that there remains a strong need for face‐to‐face individualised treatment for many patients, particularly those with severe refractory IBS who may require a more personalised approach to treatment.…”

Editorial: Can we predict or not predict response to hypnotherapy? That is the question. Authors' reply

“…5 Not surprisingly, many are now appearing, often without the evidence to support their use, and the results for those that have been submitted to scrutiny suggest that they might be best directed at patients at the milder end of the spectrum. 5 It is important that all these alternative modalities are compared with face-to-face gut-directed hypnotherapy, which should always be considered as the gold standard. Future prospective, randomised studies should, therefore, also investigate whether novel clinical phenotyping models 6 can predict response to gut-directed hypnotherapy using different modes of delivery in refractory and non-refractory populations.…”

“…Video applications are almost as effective 3 and acceptable to patients 4 but still require interaction with a trained therapist. Smartphone applications have great appeal and could reach a far greater population of patients 5 . Not surprisingly, many are now appearing, often without the evidence to support their use, and the results for those that have been submitted to scrutiny suggest that they might be best directed at patients at the milder end of the spectrum 5 .…”

“…Smartphone applications have great appeal and could reach a far greater population of patients 5 . Not surprisingly, many are now appearing, often without the evidence to support their use, and the results for those that have been submitted to scrutiny suggest that they might be best directed at patients at the milder end of the spectrum 5 . It is important that all these alternative modalities are compared with face‐to‐face gut‐directed hypnotherapy, which should always be considered as the gold standard.…”

Digital Therapeutics as a New Therapeutic Modality: A Review from the Perspective of Clinical Pharmacology

“…From the initial idea of digitalizing CBT, DTx have evolved and continue to expand the range of embedded digital interventions and targeted areas. In Table 1 we compiled a nonexhaustive list of references across a variety of indications where DTx are currently developed, used or foreseen to play a key role for patients 2–41 . This illustrates why their development is associated with significant promise, in particular for tackling the continuously growing burden of chronic diseases 42 …”