PGI7 - The Place of Ehealth Interventions in the Management Pathway of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Ibd) Patients: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Electronic-health (eHealth) interventions are becoming increasingly important in the management of IBD patients, with increasing evidence suggesting improved disease and patient outcomes and reduced resource use. Interventional studies were systematically identified via MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. Studies were identified by two independent reviewers following pre-specified study selection criteria. Studies were included if they assessed any eHealth intervention and reported outcomes related to quality of life (QoL), disease activity, adherence or patient satisfaction. Twenty five studies met the inclusion criteria of the review. Five assessed tele-monitoring technologies based on faecal calprotectin (FC) as a biomarker of disease activity, allowing for remote patient monitoring; five looked at the impact on patient and disease outcomes of educational websites and mobile applications. Five of the studies were interventional, comparing the impact of eHealth interventions with a standard of care follow-up. Quality of life and patients satisfaction outcomes were commonly reported (n=7 and n=6, respectively). Cost and resource utilisation impact of eHealth interventions was reported in two studies. Overall eHealth intervention were reported to improve patient satisfaction in general as well as compared to standard of care monitoring. Similarly, QoL was reported significantly higher among patients who were under eHealth intervention. Mixed results across assessed interventions were reported for other outcomes such as adherence and improvements in disease activity. The use of eHealth interventions is likely to be a key development in the future management of chronic diseases such as IBD. Although there is currently no specific consensus on preference of technology, the benefits for patients and health systems across interventions are becoming increasingly clear. Better quality research is needed to show robust benefits from eHealth interventions.