None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Background: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease with systemic immune dysregulation associated with multiple comorbidities. The frequent relapses and difficult management arising from poor compliance to treatment and lifestyle behavior change often extends long-term treatment, severely affecting quality of life, making compliance to medication an integral part in the management of the disease. Objectives: To evaluate the use of social media interventions in improving treatment adherence, disease knowledge, and several patient outcomes such as disease severity and quality of life. Methods: A randomized, controlled, observer-blinded, three-arm, parallel clinical trial will be conducted among patients with psoriasis. Patients seeking face-to-face consult or via telemedicine at the Psoriasis will be recruited and invited to participate in this study. Research participants will be assigned to either control or intervention. Those assigned to intervention will be further subdivided into two; the first group will be receiving messages through Facebook thrice a week whereas the second group will be receiving messages once a week. Those belonging to the intervention group will be receiving messages for a period of twelve weeks in alternating order of reminder-education-reminder. Those assigned to the control group will receive no messages and will receive the standard treatment on their assigned days of follow-up. Research participants shall be assessed in two study visits, one at the beginning and one at the end of the twelfth week. The physicians who will observe and examine the patients will be blinded to the intervention or control group assignment until the end of the study. They will also be the ones to perform disease severity scorings (PASI, BSA, and PGA) and request for DLQI at every follow-up visit. Physicians assessing the patients shall be the same physician who saw the patient at baseline and at the end of 12 weeks. The primary investigator shall be the one to enroll, randomize, and send messages to the patients.
Interventions
Research participants will be assigned to either control or intervention. Those assigned to intervention will be further subdivided into two; the first group will be receiving messages through Facebook thrice a week whereas the second group will be receiving messages once a week. Those belonging to the intervention group will be receiving messages for a period of twelve weeks in alternating order of reminder-education-reminder.
Messages containing reminders and knowledge of the disease were cr
Research participants will be assigned to either control or intervention. Those assigned to intervention will be further subdivided into two; the first group will be receiving messages through Facebook thrice a week whereas the second group will be receiving messages once a week. Those belonging to the intervention group will be receiving messages for a period of twelve weeks in alternating order of reminder-education-reminder. Messages containing reminders and knowledge of the disease were created using simple language, considering frequently asked questions about pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, comorbidities, prognosis, and general recommendations to take care of overall health. These were adapted from Balato et al's study entitled, "Educational and motivational support service: a pilot study for mobile-phone-based interventions in patients with psoriasis" published in the British Journal of Dermatology last 2013 and Bardazi et al's "Investigating psoriasis awareness among patients in Italy: validation of a questionnaire" published in the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences last 2014. Each message is 1-2 sentences long. The primary investigator shall be the one to enroll, randomize, and send messages to the patients. The physicians who will observe and examine the patients will be blinded to the intervention or control group assignment until the end of the study. They will also be the ones to perform disease severity scorings such as the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI), Body Surface Area (BSA), and Physicians Global Assessment (PGA) and request for Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) at every follow-up visit. Physicians assessing the patients shall be the same physician who saw the patient at baseline and at the end of 12 weeks.
Sponsors
Jennifer Lavina T. Ngo
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
• Diagnosed with psoriasis • Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) between 5 and 15 • Currently receiving systemic, and/or phototherapy and/or topical treatment • Has the ability to acquire and access medications • Has a Facebook account • Has access to internet
Exclusion criteria
Patients who cannot log in to Facebook daily
Outcome results
None listed