Jenny Guo, MD, presented the findings of a study on the development of a novel mobile health platform for surveillance of kidney stone formers at the 2024 American Urological Association Annual Meeting. Guo, a urology resident at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, shared insights from the study.
The preliminary results of the study were analyzed over a 6-month period and revealed some intriguing findings. Despite challenges in enrolling participants, with only a 35% enrollment rate in the past year, the study showed that patients using the GetWell platform experienced an increase in their Wisconsin Stone Quality of Life scores compared to the control group. However, due to the small sample size, these results were not statistically significant. Additionally, patients in the GetWell group showed an increase in urine volume in their 24-hour urine collections while the control group did not exhibit any significant changes.
When asked about future research plans for the care plan, Guo mentioned that there are currently no studies in progress. Nevertheless, she emphasized that it is crucial to explore ways to optimize mobile health technology to simplify patient care processes. This could involve incorporating artificial intelligence or collaborating with engineering departments to develop user-friendly applications that allow patients to access their results directly through their phones or other devices. The goal is to make it easier for patients to input data into the app and receive personalized recommendations and notifications and reminders throughout their care plan journey.
Continuous improvement of mobile health platforms has enormous potential for enhancing patient engagement and outcomes in kidney stone disease management. Further research is needed to validate these findings and explore new possibilities for improving patient care through technology.
