Tailoring Tofacitinib Oral Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis: The TuTORApp—A Usability Study

Abstract

Objective: To create a mobile application able to help patients follow medical treatments properly. Methods: We designed and developed a custom Android/iOS App to remind patients of the pharmaceutical drugs to be taken, of the visits and exams to attend, and to detect their compliance with their personal therapeutic plan. In this paper we describe the App development, UX/UI design, Gamification. TuTOR is an Android and iOS application designed to remind patients of the drugs to be taken, giving them all the information related to their therapeutic plans in a simple and non-invasive way. Thanks to a dedicated back-office, specially designed to meet specific medical information needs, the App can also help physicians detect their patients’ compliance with their treatments and modify prescriptions in real time. The App also ensures a state-of-the-art approach to data security and privacy protection. The main feature of TuTOR is the smart therapy assistant, which features dedicated alarms to remind users of taking their prescription drugs. Thanks to the automatic synchronization with a local database, the alert system works even without connection to the Internet. Particular attention was paid during the App’s design process: we looked to create an intuitive interface to ensure absolute ease of use, with state-of-the-art visual design aimed at maximizing user experience. Other relevant features include the App’s ability to givevisual evidence of the most important drugs to be taken and its note-taking feature, which gives patients the possibility to note down indications on why a specific drug was skipped. The App also keeps track of upcoming medical exams, laboratory tests, and visits on a devoted calendar. It also helps patients by listing therapy contacts, such as physicians’ phone numbers, and indicates all medical references by showing, for example, locations of relevant clinics and pharmacies on a map. Thanks to specific visual progress indicators and an innovative gamification approach, the App encourages users to faithfully follow therapy guidelines. With TuTOR, assessing the therapy’s state of completion is quick and easy.Thanksto the privacy-by-design approach used, all data managed by the system is compliant with the European Privacy Regulation and it is not available to third parties. Expected results: A mobile App for medication adherence might increase objectively and subjectively measured adherence.

Tailoring Tofacitinib Oral Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis: The TuTOR App

“…Graphic analysis of DAS28, NRS and satisfaction questionnaires were produced with Graphpad Prism version 6.04 for Windows (La Jolla, CA, USA). All participants were followed-up for 6 months, with a clinical ambulatory visit each month and personal adherence questionnaires administered using a paper format at baseline and every 3 months, as previously described [13]. Tablets were supplied in blisters of 56 film-coated tablets.…”

“…Figure 1 shows the timeline of the research protocol of the study. All participants were followed-up for 6 months, with a clinical ambulatory visit each month and personal adherence questionnaires administered using a paper format at baseline and every 3 months, as previously described [13].…”

“…To support the management of RA patients treated with tofacitinib, we designed a mobile application: the TuTOR (tailoring tofacitinib oral therapy in rheumatoid arthritis) mobile app. As a first part of the study, the TuTOR app and the methodology of the study were designed, as previously described [13]. In this second study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of the TuTOR app on medical adherence by performing a prospective controlled, single-center study.…”

User Experience and Usability of Neumorphism and Gamification User Interface Designs in an HIV Self-Test Referral Program for Men Who Have Sex With Men: Prospective Open-Label Parallel-Group Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Gamification is the application of video game elements in nongaming contexts to enhance UX [ 8 ]. It has been applied for improving drug adherence in rheumatoid arthritis patients [ 9 ] and for supporting clinical decision-making [ 10 ]. The effectiveness of gamification has been shown in the promotion of health among MSM.…”