Systemic sclerosis & Raynaud's
Using a smartphone app to monitor Raynaud’s attacks and quantify skin colour changes—towards objective outcome measures for Raynaud’s
Authors' conclusion
Collecting photographs of RP attacks and PROMS via a smartphone app was feasible and preferred by patients to data collection via paper diary, providing proof-of-concept for validation studies of app-based outcome measures for RP.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc)-related or primary Raynaud's phenomenon (RP)
- Participants
- 36 vs 40
- Comparison
- Smartphone photographic documentation of RP attacks vs paper diary
- Study 1n = 36
- Study 2n = 40
- Outcome
- Feasibility of patients documenting RP attacks using mobile phones
- Follow-up
- 15 days
Methodological detailstwo studies, smartphone app, image analysis (Bhattacharyya distance)
- Two studies
- Smartphone app
- Image analysis (Bhattacharyya distance)
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Feasibility (study completion and preference)
| Group | Value | Photographed ≥1 RP attack | Preferred phone to paper diary | Usable images | RP attacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study 1 | 67% | 22 | 18/24 (75%) | ||
| Study 2 | 90% | 1747 | 456 |
Value
Study 167%
Study 290%
Photographed ≥1 RP attack
Study 122
Study 2— not stated in the abstract
Preferred phone to paper diary
Study 118/24 (75%)
Study 2— not stated in the abstract
Usable images
Study 1— not stated in the abstract
Study 21747
RP attacks
Study 1— not stated in the abstract
Study 2456
Further findings
| Outcome | Correlation coefficient (95% CI) | P value |
|---|---|---|
| Correlation of photographic and paper diary frequency of attacks (study 1)Photographic vs Paper diary | 0.71 (0.41–0.87) | P = 0.002 |
- Number of attacks photographed (study 1)
- 12.5 · median · range 1–53 · attacks
Correlation of photographic and paper diary frequency of attacks (study 1)
- Severity of attacks did not correlate
RP colour change by RP attack severity (study 2, ANOVA)
- RP colour change significantly different with different values of RP attack severity
- P < 0.001
Original publication
Using a smartphone app to monitor Raynaud’s attacks and quantify skin colour changes—towards objective outcome measures for Raynaud’s. Rheumatology (Oxford). Published 12 March 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →