Mobile Devices as Educational Skin History Tools

June 28, 2023 updated by: University of Pennsylvania

Evaluating the Use of Mobile Devices as Educational Tools Regarding Skin History

Part I of this study surveys patients in the Penn Dermatologic Surgery Clinic to evaluate if a need exists for increased patient understanding of their skin history and which factors, if any, related to the patient or their skin history are associated with this need. In part II, the study aim is to evaluate mobile technology as a way of improving patient understanding of diagnoses, treatments, and procedures. In this part of the study, eligible patients from part I will be randomized either to a control group that receives the current standard of care regarding in-clinic counseling, informational handouts, and access to their medical records, or to an intervention group that in addition to the current standard of care, is setup with a mobile app, allowing patients to view a skin history summary report and a reference on their skin findings and procedures. Patients then complete a survey to establish their baseline understanding of their clinic visit. Three weeks later the patient is emailed a follow-up survey to assess their understanding of their in-clinic visit. Differences in understanding between the two study groups will be assessed by comparing the number of correctly answered survey items regarding their in-clinic visit, both at baseline (immediately following their surgery) and three weeks later. Qualitative information regarding satisfaction and areas of improvement will also be collected via survey. Patients who have an appointment during the study period at the Penn Dermatologic Surgery clinic for a skin excision will be eligible for inclusion.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

70

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • University of Pennsylvania

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Have an appointment in the Penn Dermatologic Surgery Clinic for removal of a skin area during the study enrollment period
  • Possession of a mobile device running iOS with the study mobile app (intervention) successfully installed (assistance will be provided by research staff if needed)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children or adolescents, or if the patient is court-ordered to attend residential alcohol or other drug treatment facilities and therefore considered prisoners
  • Patients will also be excluded if they are incompetent to provide informed consent and HIPAA authorization.
  • If the area being operated on is of the genitals or breasts
  • If the area being operated on is of the face, and photos of the area cannot be cropped or the eyes cannot be covered sufficiently such that photos are non-identifying

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control - Standard of Care
The standard of care consists of in-clinic counseling, informational handouts, and access to patient medical records
Experimental: Intervention - Mobile app
The mobile app, or app, is used to document before and after photos of the excised skin areas and to document related diagnoses. The app allows patients to view a skin history summary report and a reference on their skin findings and procedures.
The mobile app, or app, is installed on the patient's mobile device and is used to document the surgical procedure with before and after photographs, including pre- and post-surgery diagnosis. The app allows patients to view a skin history summary report and a reference on their skin findings and procedures.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Understanding of recent skin excision - 3 weeks later
Time Frame: 3 weeks
After study enrollment, patients have one or more skin areas excised. They complete an in-clinic survey immediately after the excision and another survey 3 weeks later where they are asked questions regarding the clinic visit and the related excised skin areas and diagnoses. Understanding is assessed by comparing against the medical record to calculate the number/percent of correct responses.
3 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Christopher Miller, MD, University of Pennsylvania

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 4, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 2, 2017

Study Completion (Actual)

December 31, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 26, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 26, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

February 5, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 29, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 28, 2023

Last Verified

June 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 826558

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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