World Allergy Organization Journal (Jun 2021)
How are patients with chronic urticaria interested in using information and communication technologies to guide their healthcare? A UCARE study
- Ivan Cherrez-Ojeda,
- Emanuel Vanegas,
- Annia Cherrez,
- Miguel Felix,
- Karsten Weller,
- Markus Magerl,
- Rasmus Robin Maurer,
- Valeria L. Mata,
- Alicja Kasperska-Zajac,
- Agnieszka Sikora,
- Daria Fomina,
- Elena Kovalkova,
- Kiran Godse,
- Nimmagadda Dheeraj Rao,
- Maryam Khoshkhui,
- Sahar Rastgoo,
- Roberta FJ. Criado,
- Mohamed Abuzakouk,
- Deepa Grandon,
- Martijn B.A. Van Doorn,
- Solange Oliveira Rodrigues Valle,
- Eduardo Magalhães De Souza Lima,
- Simon Francis Thomsen,
- German D. Ramón,
- Edgar E. Matos Benavides,
- Andrea Bauer,
- Ana M. Giménez-Arnau,
- Emek Kocatürk,
- Carole Guillet,
- Jose Ignacio Larco,
- Zuo-Tao Zhao,
- Michael Makris,
- Carla Ritchie,
- Paraskevi Xepapadaki,
- Luis Felipe Ensina,
- Sofia Cherrez,
- Marcus Maurer
Affiliations
- Ivan Cherrez-Ojeda
- Universidad Espíritu Santo, Samborondón, Ecuador; Respiralab, Respiralab Research Group, Guayaquil, Ecuador; Corresponding author. Allergy, Immunology & Pulmonary Medicine, Medical and Research Director of Respiralab, Research Professor at Espiritu Santo University (UEES), Respiralab, Clinica Kennedy, Seccion Delta, Av 9na. Oeste y Av. San Jorg, Ecuador
- Emanuel Vanegas
- Universidad Espíritu Santo, Samborondón, Ecuador; Respiralab, Respiralab Research Group, Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Annia Cherrez
- Respiralab, Respiralab Research Group, Guayaquil, Ecuador; Clinic and Policlinic for Dermatology and Venereology, University Medical Center Rostock, Rostock, Germany
- Miguel Felix
- Universidad Espíritu Santo, Samborondón, Ecuador; Respiralab, Respiralab Research Group, Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Karsten Weller
- Dermatological Allergology, Allergie-Centrum-Charité, Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- Markus Magerl
- Dermatological Allergology, Allergie-Centrum-Charité, Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- Rasmus Robin Maurer
- Dermatological Allergology, Allergie-Centrum-Charité, Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- Valeria L. Mata
- Universidad Espíritu Santo, Samborondón, Ecuador; Respiralab, Respiralab Research Group, Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Alicja Kasperska-Zajac
- European Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Urticaria, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
- Agnieszka Sikora
- European Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Urticaria, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
- Daria Fomina
- City Center of Allergy and Immunology, Clinical City Hospital #52, Moscow, Russia; Department of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Trubetskaya St., 8/2, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
- Elena Kovalkova
- City Center of Allergy and Immunology, Clinical City Hospital #52, Moscow, Russia
- Kiran Godse
- Department of Dermatology, D Y, Patil University School of Medicine and Hospital, Mumbai, India
- Nimmagadda Dheeraj Rao
- Department of Dermatology, D Y, Patil University School of Medicine and Hospital, Mumbai, India
- Maryam Khoshkhui
- Allergy Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran; Department of Allergy and Immunology, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
- Sahar Rastgoo
- Department of Allergy and Immunology, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
- Roberta FJ. Criado
- Department of Dermatology, Faculdade de Medicina do ABC, São Paulo, Brazil
- Mohamed Abuzakouk
- Allergy and Immunology Department, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Deepa Grandon
- Allergy and Immunology Department, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Martijn B.A. Van Doorn
- Department of Dermatology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Solange Oliveira Rodrigues Valle
- Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Eduardo Magalhães De Souza Lima
- Faculty of Science and Health of Juiz de Fora - SUPREMA, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Simon Francis Thomsen
- Department of Dermatology, Bispebjerg Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Biomedical Sciences, Copenhagen, Denmark
- German D. Ramón
- Instituto de Alergia e Inmunología del Sur, Bahía Blanca, Prov. De Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Edgar E. Matos Benavides
- Centro de Referencia de Alergia, Asma e Inmunología - Instituto Nacional del Niño, Lima, Perú
- Andrea Bauer
- Department of Dermatology, University Allergy Center, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technical University, Dresden, Germany
- Ana M. Giménez-Arnau
- Department of Dermatology, Hospital del Mar, IMIM, Universitat Autònoma, Barcelona, Spain
- Emek Kocatürk
- Department of Dermatology, Koç University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
- Carole Guillet
- Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
- Jose Ignacio Larco
- Allergy Department, Clinica San Felipe, Lima, Peru
- Zuo-Tao Zhao
- Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China
- Michael Makris
- Allergy Unit, 2nd Department of Dermatology and Venereology, National and Kapodistrian, University of Athens, “Attikon” University Hospital, Greece
- Carla Ritchie
- Allergy Division, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Paraskevi Xepapadaki
- Allergy Department, 2nd Pediatric Clinic, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
- Luis Felipe Ensina
- Federal University of São Paulo. São Paulo, Brazil
- Sofia Cherrez
- Respiralab, Respiralab Research Group, Guayaquil, Ecuador; Department of Dermatology, SRH Zentralklinikum Suhl, Germany
- Marcus Maurer
- Dermatological Allergology, Allergie-Centrum-Charité, Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 14,
no. 6
p. 100542
Abstract
Background: Patients with chronic urticaria (CU) are increasingly using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to manage their health. What CU patients expect from ICTs and which ICTs they prefer remains unknown. We assessed why CU patients use ICTs, which ones they prefer, and what drives their expectations and choices. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 1841 patients across 17 countries were recruited at UCAREs (Urticaria Centers of Reference and Excellence). Patients with CU who were >12 years old completed a 23-item questionnaire. Results: Most patients were interested in receiving disease information (87.3%), asking physicians about CU (84.1%), and communicating with other patients through ICTs (65.6%). For receiving disease information, patients preferred one-to-one and one-to-many ICTs, especially web browsers. One-to-one ICTs were also the ICTs of choice for asking physicians about urticaria and for communicating with other patients, and e-mail and WhatsApp were the preferred ICTs, respectively. Many-to-many ICTs such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter were least preferred for all 3 purposes. Living in rural areas and higher education were linked to higher odds of being interested in receiving disease information, asking physicians, and communicating with patients through ICTs. Conclusions: Most patients and especially patients with higher education who live in rural areas are interested in using ICTs for their healthcare, but prefer different ICTs for different purposes, ie, web browsers for obtaining information, e-mail for asking physicians, and WhatsApp for communicating with other patients. Our findings may help to improve ICTs for CU.
