Mobile App Helps Patients With Rheumatic Diseases Manage Their Symptoms Better

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A lifestyle counseling app was shown to help patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and spondyloarthritis (SpA) improve their symptoms, according to a study published in Nutrients.¹

Research has shown that autoimmune diseases like these are affected by diet, exercise, and mental health. The Mediterranean diet is often recommended because it helps reduce inflammation, and the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) has provided advice on lifestyle changes to help manage these conditions.²

“Lifestyle changes are notoriously hard to induce in patients,” wrote a team of German investigators. “There are several potential obstacles to efficient lifestyle counseling, including time restrictions and insufficient reimbursement modalities or even a lack thereof, depending on the local health policy.”

Researchers recruited patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and spondyloarthritis (SpA) from two hospitals in Germany. The patients were split into two groups: one group received personalized lifestyle advice through an app for 12 weeks, while the other group just reported their symptoms without using the app. The app provided tips on exercise, mental health, and following the Mediterranean diet. The study measured how active the disease was and categorized it as remission, low, moderate, or high. They also checked how well patients followed the Mediterranean diet.

The main goal was to see if the app could help patients lower their disease activity or even reach remission. They also looked at other factors like diet, quality of life, exercise levels, and mental health (depression and anxiety).

A total of 158 patients participated in the study. Most of the patients were women (73%), and the average age was 53. Of these, 74 patients used the app for lifestyle counseling. All patients saw improvement, but those using the app showed better results for reaching low disease activity or remission compared with the group that did not use the app.

Patients who used the app were more likely to follow the Mediterranean diet, which is considered healthier. The app group also showed better success in sticking to this diet, though there was no significant change in depression, physical function, weight, or exercise levels.

The researchers noted that even though apps have helped improve mental health and exercise in other studies, this study did not use tools that could detect smaller changes in these areas. This could be why they didn't find significant mental health or exercise improvements. They also didn’t explore if using the app led to smartphone addiction, although earlier research suggests this isn’t a major risk.

“In follow-up studies, the inclusion of a more detailed dietary assessment is likely to provide further insight and help to even better define healthy nutrients for rheumatic diseases beyond broad categories such as that of a ‘healthy Mediterranean Diet,’” investigators concluded.

An original version of this article was published on sister site HCPLive.

References

1. ^{Kurt T, Vossen D, Schumacher F, et al. Effect of Lifestyle Counselling via a Mobile Application on Disease Activity Control in Inflammatory Arthritis: A Single-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Study. Nutrients. 2024;16(10):1488. Published 2024 May 14. doi:10.3390/nu16101488}
2. ^{Gwinnutt, J.M.; Wieczorek, M.; Balanescu, A.; Bischoff-Ferrari, H.A.; Boonen, A.; Cavalli, G.; de Souza, S.; de Thurah, A.; Dorner, T.E.; Moe, R.H.; et al. 2021 EULAR Recommendations Regarding Lifestyle Behaviours and Work Participation to Prevent Progression of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases. Ann. Rheum. Dis. 2022, 82, 48–56.}