P121 Real world effectiveness of Digital Therapeutics on quality of life and emotional wellbeing amongst patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Authors: Bhalla Shubha , Shah Abhishek , Sinha Beauty , Damse Sneha , Thiyagarajah Premalatha , Soulat Karine 
Published: April 2023

Background/Aims

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic chronic autoimmune disease. It presents as an inflammatory arthritis with varying severity and symptoms like joint pain, joint stiffness, fatigue, sleep disturbances, dryness, etc reducing the quality of life (QoL).1 Patients with RA experience impairment in all aspects of QoL (limitation of physical function, disability and pain) and mental health (anxiety and depression etc). Depression is two times more common in RA patients and intriguingly a bi-directional relationship with RA has been shown in cross-sectional studies.2 Patients with RA are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression and low self-esteem, with high levels of associated mortality and suicide.3 There is an imperative need to improve the QoL and emotional wellbeing for these patients. Digitalization plays an incredibly significant role in health care, not only in monitoring but also in self-management of disease and symptoms. The aim of the study is to assess the impact of a digital health program on the emotional wellbeing and QoL of patients suffering from RA.

Methods

An intervention trial with a patient support program was delivered using Wellthy Care digital platform over a period of 16 weeks. Recruitment of 30 patients was done using a convenient sampling method. Patients who were diagnosed with RA were included in the trial. Patients who were under 18, pregnant/lactating, and with hearing disability were excluded. The program included interventions such as physiotherapy sessions, CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) counselling, nutrition counselling, health and lifestyle coaching, symptom monitoring, disease awareness and self-management training. WHO-5 wellbeing score4, a widely used questionnaire for assessing subjective psychological well-being was administered along with a proprietary questionnaire for QoL by Wellthy.

Results

The Mean emotional wellbeing score of patients at baseline was 10.13 and at endline was 18.13. The program positively impacted the emotional wellbeing and quality of life by 78.97% and 41.18 % respectively. The mean Qol score of the patients at baseline was 12.82 and at endline was 18.1. The Paired T-test witnessed significant improvement in emotional wellbeing scores, Qol scores following RA patient support program from 10.13±4.65 to 18.13±3.04, an improvement of 8.0±1.61(p &lt; 0.01), from 12.82±2.87 to 18.1±1.5, an improvement of 5.28±1.37 (p &lt; 0.01), respectively.

Conclusion

The RA support program delivered by Wellthy therapeutics proved to be highly effective in improving emotional wellbeing and QoL for RA patients. This health program had a great impact on several dimensions of patient-reported outcomes for emotional wellbeing and QoL. Digital health technology has the potential to bridge the gap in current care delivery of chronic and debilitating conditions such as RA.

Disclosure

S. Bhalla: None. A. Shah: None. B. Sinha: None. S. Damse: None. P. Thiyagarajah: None. K. Soulat: None.