Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Neurotechnology
Date Submitted: Mar 12, 2022
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 12, 2022 - May 7, 2022
Date Accepted: Dec 30, 2022
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Remote Testing Apps for Multiple Sclerosis Patients: Systematic Review of Published Articles and Systematic Search and Review of Public Smartphone Apps
ABSTRACT
Background:
Many apps designed to remotely assess clinical status and monitor symptom evolution in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) exist. These may one day serve as an adjunct for in-person testing of persons with MS, providing valuable insight into disease course that is not accounted for by snapshots obtained from clinic visits.
Objective:
This study sought to review the current literature surrounding apps used for remote monitoring of persons with MS.
Methods:
A systematic review of published articles was conducted in January 2022 in 4 databases. The Apple App Store and the Google Play Store were also searched, and relevant apps were identified.
Results:
Eighteen articles and eighteen apps were included in this study. Although many MS-related apps exist, only ten apps were identified in the systematic review to have published literature surrounding their use. Twelve articles looked at convergence between app-based testing and neurological exam. Overall, correlation between app version of standardized tests and their traditional counterparts was moderate to strong. Some novel app-based tests had a stronger correlation with clinician-derived outcomes than traditional testing. App-based testing correlated well with Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite, but less so with Expanded Disability Status Scale; the latter correlated to a greater extent with patient quality of life scores.
Conclusions:
This study suggests that app-based testing may be used in lieu of some physical exams if or when the latter is not readily accessible for persons with MS.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.