AI-based app for cancer care clicks with patients

NEW DELHI: A smart phone app — UPPCHAR, an AI-based health education system, developed by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for supportive care for advanced cancer patients on medication adherence — has shown good results in effectively enhancing medication compliance among patients.

This has been indicated in a study conducted by AIIMS, in collaboration with ICMR, to compare the effectiveness of the app with the conventional prescription, along with booklet-based education on medical adherence and knowledge among advanced cancer patients receiving palliative care at a tertiary care centre.

The detailed analysis of the study, in which a total of 204 patients were enrolled and 50% were considered in each category, is likely to be completed in another couple of months. According to experts, after completion of the study, this app is likely to be available to all those suffering from advanced-stage cancer.
Preliminary findings suggest that patients using the mobile app showed better compliance with medicines compared with the conventional prescription group after a six-month intervention. According to researchers of the study from department of onco-anesthesia, this implies that mobile app-based systems can be a ground-breaking strategy to promote patient-centric care, encouraging active self-care and facilitating a paradigm shift in managing patients with chronic conditions.

Dr Rakesh Garg from onco-anesthesia department, said that sometimes patients forget to note down vital information, such as the number of times they had pain or vomiting, its level of intensity and extra doses of medication consumed. However, the app can record everything with just one click and also suggest the medicine prescribed by the AIIMS doctor. Since almost 85% people have access to basic smartphones, as per the study conducted by them, the app can be a good option for patients.
Daily observations will be recorded by the patient through a bilingual app. These will include average pain experienced in the last 24 hours, the worst pain encountered in the last 24 hours and any analgesics taken at that time. If the answer to the last question is yes, then the app will prompt the patient to click on the medication they have taken. The study was started in 2021. Researchers said that patients were monitored biweekly for six months during that period.

According to researchers, the app-based reminders for medication increase the compliance with drugs and also suggest pain medicine as per the patient’s requirement. The doctor will also get to know how many times the patient felt pain and, if it happened several times, then the doses could be increased accordingly.

Both groups were comparable in terms of baseline demographic and clinical profile, except for education and occupation of the patients, surgery done and duration of analgesic intake, which were adjusted while doing protocol analysis.