Psorcast Mobile Study

Psorcast Study: A Smartphone-based Study of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis

The purpose of this study is to understand variation in the symptoms of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis using simple, scalable smartphone-based measurements. This study uses an iPhone app to record these symptoms through questionnaires and sensors.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Joint Pain; Psoriasis; Plaque Psoriasis; Psoriatic Arthritis; Psoriatic Nail; Dermatologic Disease; Psoriatic Conditions; Rheumatologic Disease; Dactylitis
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Participant self-assessment surveys; Behavioral: Psoriasis Draw; Behavioral: Psoriasis Area Photo; Behavioral: Finger and Toe Photos; Behavioral: Digital Jar Open; Behavioral: 30 Second Walk; Other: Psorcast mobile application

Detailed Description

Psoriatic disease exhibits a spectrum of symptoms and can transition from psoriasis (PsO), largely affecting the skin, to psoriatic arthritis (PsA) involving widespread musculoskeletal inflammation. Early detection of the PsO-to-PsA transition and rapid administration of effective treatment is essential, as a delay in diagnosing PsA by as little as 6 months can lead to irreversible joint damage. This "ticking clock" paradigm drives the need for frequent monitoring and effective therapeutic intervention as early as possible to attenuate or possibly prevent disease progression. Using a suite of smartphone-based measurements in an app called Psorcast (psoriasis forecasts), we aim to aggregate weekly, symptom measurements from participants in a remote, longitudinal observational study to map the trajectories of treatment response and disease progression. In this study, we will explore measurements of psoriatic disease activity at least an order of magnitude more frequently (weekly vs. quarterly) than standard clinical practice or clinical trial designs. This study is not meant to provide a medical diagnosis, treatment, or medical advice. It is meant to provide a scalable, inexpensive, non-invasive and frequent measure and tracking of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis for research purposes.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 1000

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Washington
    • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98109
      • Sage Bionetworks

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adults with a compatible iPhone or iPod Touch who consent to particpate

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult age 18 and older who consent to participate in the study
• Own a compatible iPhone or iPod Touch device running iOS 12.2 or above
• Be able to read and understand an official language of the country of participation

Exclusion Criteria:

• Age 17 years or younger
• Not a resident of the a country where the app is approved for use
• Not have a personal (i.e., not shared) iPhone (4s or newer running iOS 8.0 or later)
• Not be able to read and understand an official language of the country of participation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

3

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Participants with Psoriasis; People who report a diagnosis of Psoriasis. Participants are invited via the Psorcast mobile application to complete the following assessments: Participant self-assessment surveys, skin assessments (Psoriasis Area Draw and Psoriasis Area Photo) and musculoskeletal assessments (Finger/Toe Photos, Joint Count, Digital Jar Open, 30s Walk).	Behavioral: Participant self-assessment surveys; At enrollment, participants are asked to complete a baseline health history, family history, and a participant-reported symptom inventory.; Behavioral: Psoriasis Draw; Participants are asked to draw the location and size of psoriasis they currently experience. Participants are provided a body template onto which they can draw on their screen. Investigators estimate the percentage of body area affected.; Behavioral: Psoriasis Area Photo; Participants are asked to take a picture of a representative psoriasis plaque and indicate the location of the plaque. They are asked to take a picture of the same area over time. The investigators are developing computer vision algorithms to assess the plaque.; Behavioral: Finger and Toe Photos; Participants are asked to take pictures of the back of each hand and the top of each foot. These photos can be used to assess finger and toe swelling as well as psoriatic nail involvement. The investigators are developing computer vision algorithms to assess psoriatic nail involvement and digit swelling.; Behavioral: Digital Jar Open; Participants are asked to internally and externally rotate the phone as it rests on a flat surface. Participants perform each direction (internal and external) and each arm (left and right) in turn. Gyroscope sensors measure the degree of rotation.; Behavioral: 30 Second Walk; Participants are asked to walk in a straight line for 30 seconds. Gait is measured by gyroscope and accelerometer sensors. The investigators examine step-dependent and sequence-dependent features from these sensors. The investigators apply feature selection and classifier algorithms to analyze these data.; Other: Psorcast mobile application; Participants complete all described behavioral interventions via a dedicated iPhone app, Psorcast.
Participants with Psoriatic Arthritis; People who report a diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis. Participants are invited via the Psorcast mobile application to complete the following assessments: Participant self-assessment surveys, skin assessments (Psoriasis Area Draw and Psoriasis Area Photo) and musculoskeletal assessments (Finger/Toe Photos, Joint Count, Digital Jar Open, 30s Walk).	Behavioral: Participant self-assessment surveys; At enrollment, participants are asked to complete a baseline health history, family history, and a participant-reported symptom inventory.; Behavioral: Psoriasis Draw; Participants are asked to draw the location and size of psoriasis they currently experience. Participants are provided a body template onto which they can draw on their screen. Investigators estimate the percentage of body area affected.; Behavioral: Psoriasis Area Photo; Participants are asked to take a picture of a representative psoriasis plaque and indicate the location of the plaque. They are asked to take a picture of the same area over time. The investigators are developing computer vision algorithms to assess the plaque.; Behavioral: Finger and Toe Photos; Participants are asked to take pictures of the back of each hand and the top of each foot. These photos can be used to assess finger and toe swelling as well as psoriatic nail involvement. The investigators are developing computer vision algorithms to assess psoriatic nail involvement and digit swelling.; Behavioral: Digital Jar Open; Participants are asked to internally and externally rotate the phone as it rests on a flat surface. Participants perform each direction (internal and external) and each arm (left and right) in turn. Gyroscope sensors measure the degree of rotation.; Behavioral: 30 Second Walk; Participants are asked to walk in a straight line for 30 seconds. Gait is measured by gyroscope and accelerometer sensors. The investigators examine step-dependent and sequence-dependent features from these sensors. The investigators apply feature selection and classifier algorithms to analyze these data.; Other: Psorcast mobile application; Participants complete all described behavioral interventions via a dedicated iPhone app, Psorcast.
Participants without Psoriasis or Psoriatic Arthritis; People who report no prior diagnosis of Psoriasis or Psoriatic Arthritis. Participants are invited via the Psorcast mobile application to complete the following assessments: Participant self-assessment surveys, skin assessments (Psoriasis Area Draw and Psoriasis Area Photo) and musculoskeletal assessments (Finger/Toe Photos, Joint Count, Digital Jar Open, 30s Walk).	Behavioral: Participant self-assessment surveys; At enrollment, participants are asked to complete a baseline health history, family history, and a participant-reported symptom inventory.; Behavioral: Psoriasis Draw; Participants are asked to draw the location and size of psoriasis they currently experience. Participants are provided a body template onto which they can draw on their screen. Investigators estimate the percentage of body area affected.; Behavioral: Psoriasis Area Photo; Participants are asked to take a picture of a representative psoriasis plaque and indicate the location of the plaque. They are asked to take a picture of the same area over time. The investigators are developing computer vision algorithms to assess the plaque.; Behavioral: Finger and Toe Photos; Participants are asked to take pictures of the back of each hand and the top of each foot. These photos can be used to assess finger and toe swelling as well as psoriatic nail involvement. The investigators are developing computer vision algorithms to assess psoriatic nail involvement and digit swelling.; Behavioral: Digital Jar Open; Participants are asked to internally and externally rotate the phone as it rests on a flat surface. Participants perform each direction (internal and external) and each arm (left and right) in turn. Gyroscope sensors measure the degree of rotation.; Behavioral: 30 Second Walk; Participants are asked to walk in a straight line for 30 seconds. Gait is measured by gyroscope and accelerometer sensors. The investigators examine step-dependent and sequence-dependent features from these sensors. The investigators apply feature selection and classifier algorithms to analyze these data.; Other: Psorcast mobile application; Participants complete all described behavioral interventions via a dedicated iPhone app, Psorcast.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Results of participant self-assessment surveys	Results of participant self-assessment surveys will be analyzed using descriptive statistics. These results may also be compared with other intervention results.	Through study completion, an average of 2 years
Body surface area and location from the Psoriasis Draw assessment	The investigators will quantify body surface area and psoriasis area hotspots across the cohort. These results may also be compared with other intervention results.	Through study completion, an average of 2 years
Computer vision features from Psoriasis Area Photo assessment	The investigators apply visual processing and classifier algorithms to analyze the images from the Psoriasis Area Photo assessments. These results may also be compared with other intervention results.	Through study completion, an average of 2 years
Computer vision features from Finger/Toe Photos	The investigators apply visual processing and classifier algorithms to segment nails and joints from hand and foot photos. These results may also be compared with other intervention results.	Through study completion, an average of 2 years
Gyroscope and accelerometer sensor measurements from Digital Jar Open assessment	The investigators examine rotational features from gyroscope and accelerometer sensors. The investigators apply feature selection and classifier algorithms to analyze these data. These results may also be compared with other intervention results.	Through study completion, an average of 2 years
Gyroscope and accelerometer sensor measurements from 30-sec Walk assessment	The investigators examine step-dependent and sequence-dependent features from gyroscope and accelerometer sensors. The investigators apply feature selection and classifier algorithms to analyze these data. These results may also be compared with other intervention results.	Through study completion, an average of 2 years
Quantification and distribution of self-reported painful joints	The investigators will quantify the self-reported painful joints and, in particular, compare to measurements from the 30-sec Walk and Digital Jar Open to identify correlations. These results may also be compared with other intervention results.	Through study completion, an average of 2 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
App usage data for assessment of participant engagement	App usage data is used to gauge participant engagement throughout the study period. These results may also be compared with other intervention results.	Through study completion, an average of 2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Sage Bionetworks
• Collaborators: Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM); University of Pennsylvania; New York University; NYU Langone Health; Brigham and Women's Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Solveig Sieberts, Ph.D, Sage Bionetworks; Principal Investigator: Jose Scher, MD, NYU Langone Medical Center; Principal Investigator: Joseph Merola, MD, MMSc, Brigham and Women's Hospital & Harvard Medical School

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• DE Webster, RH Haberman, LM Perez Chada, M Tummalacherla, A Tediarjo, V Yadav, E Chaibub Neto, W MacDuffie, M DePhillips, E Sieg, S Catron, C Grant, W Francis, M Nguyen, M Yussuff, RL Castillo, D Yan, AL Neimann, SM Reddy, A Ogdie, A Kolivras, MR Kellen, LM Mangravite, SK Sieberts, L Omberg, JF Merola, JU Scher medRxiv 2022.04.13.22273676; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.13.22273676

Helpful Links

• Psorcast Study Website
• Study App (App Store)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 10, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 10, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): November 18, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 1, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 28, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Psoriasis; Psoriatic Arthritis; Psoriatic Disease; Health app research; mHealth research; Mobile health research
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Bone Diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Arthritis; Joint Diseases; Connective Tissue Diseases; Spinal Diseases; Spondylarthropathies; Skin Diseases, Papulosquamous; Spondylarthritis; Spondylitis; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Arthralgia; Psoriasis; Arthritis, Psoriatic; Skin Diseases; Collagen Diseases; Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena; Exercise; Locomotion; Walking
• Other Study ID Numbers: 202110921

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: We will share the de-identified data from participants who opt-in to data sharing during enrollment and consent.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No