Stavros Gravas, Georgios Chasiotis, Mauro Gacci, Gokhan Calik, Andrea Liaci, Athanasios Dellis, Petros Sountoulides, M Pilar Laguna, Jean DE LA Rosette
{"title":"The feasibility and acceptability of a (mobile) application for men with lower urinary tract symptoms: a pilot study.","authors":"Stavros Gravas, Georgios Chasiotis, Mauro Gacci, Gokhan Calik, Andrea Liaci, Athanasios Dellis, Petros Sountoulides, M Pilar Laguna, Jean DE LA Rosette","doi":"10.23736/S2724-6051.25.06352-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The growing use of smartphones offers a key opportunity to monitor BPO/LUTS through well-designed medical apps. The primary objective of the study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a mobile app (MyBPHCare) for men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Secondary objectives included medical adherence using electronic reminders and compliance of treatment with current guidelines.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This was an observational cohort pilot study conducted in Greece, Türkiye, and Italy. Patients with LUTS, treatment-naïve or under treatment, older than 40 years were eligible. Patients received standard care according to physician's practice and duration of follow-up was 6 months. Standard questionnaires, diagnostic tools, medication, and follow-up visits were employed. Feasibility, acceptance, and satisfaction were assessed using a standardized, translated and validated app rating user questionnaire (uMARS). Patients' adherence to treatment and physicians' with guidelines were also recorded.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>From a total of 157 patients, 68.15% filled in the uMARS questionnaire. All uMARS mean scores ranged between \"Acceptable\" and \"Good\": App Quality (3.43), Engagement (3.21), Functionality (3.47), Aesthetics (3.37), and Information (3.68). 96.3% of the participants would recommend using the app. Recorded adherence to medication was 47.85%, while a discrepancy between guidelines and real-life practice was found.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>MyBPHCare app is a possibly feasible application for virtually monitoring men with LUTS with good acceptance from the patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":53228,"journal":{"name":"Minerva Urology and Nephrology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Minerva Urology and Nephrology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.23736/S2724-6051.25.06352-9","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"UROLOGY & NEPHROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: The growing use of smartphones offers a key opportunity to monitor BPO/LUTS through well-designed medical apps. The primary objective of the study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of a mobile app (MyBPHCare) for men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Secondary objectives included medical adherence using electronic reminders and compliance of treatment with current guidelines.
Methods: This was an observational cohort pilot study conducted in Greece, Türkiye, and Italy. Patients with LUTS, treatment-naïve or under treatment, older than 40 years were eligible. Patients received standard care according to physician's practice and duration of follow-up was 6 months. Standard questionnaires, diagnostic tools, medication, and follow-up visits were employed. Feasibility, acceptance, and satisfaction were assessed using a standardized, translated and validated app rating user questionnaire (uMARS). Patients' adherence to treatment and physicians' with guidelines were also recorded.
Results: From a total of 157 patients, 68.15% filled in the uMARS questionnaire. All uMARS mean scores ranged between "Acceptable" and "Good": App Quality (3.43), Engagement (3.21), Functionality (3.47), Aesthetics (3.37), and Information (3.68). 96.3% of the participants would recommend using the app. Recorded adherence to medication was 47.85%, while a discrepancy between guidelines and real-life practice was found.
Conclusions: MyBPHCare app is a possibly feasible application for virtually monitoring men with LUTS with good acceptance from the patients.