Introduction to the New Version of PWS Application and It's Use in Medical Practice

Abstract

Today's mobile phones and tablet PCs offer a considerably wider range of functionalities than before. Mobile applications (apps) are increasingly used for managing various daily health tasks. Currently, more than 165,000 health-related apps are offered on all the stores of different platforms. Pf Jin and the Association for Research on MPS and Rare Diseases (AMARD) have helped Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) families through medical information and family support since 2015. AMARD developed the first mobile application for Korean patients with PWS, which was released to a limited number of patients under the age of 3 and only provided to Android users. The first version of the PWS application focused on growth hormone therapy and the assessment of growth and development by parents in infant and early-childhood PWS patients. The 2016 version of the PWS application has been improved in many different ways. We have expanded the subjects of the application to late childhood and adolescent groups, changed the user interface accordingly, and made the application available for iOS users. We will show the specialized growth curves of older children with PWS. Therefore, patients with PWS over the age of 3 and their parents can assess the patients' growth. Additionally, we have upgraded the growth hormone therapy menu by improving the input system for the growth hormone therapy injection schedule and the daily growth profile (height and weight). We expect that the new version of the PWS application will help many PWS families cope with growth hormone therapy and evaluate the effects of growth hormones in better ways. Additionally, we are making a constant effort to provide more useful information about patients with PWS in many aspects.