TY - JOUR
T1 - A digital modality decision program for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease
AU - Dubin, Ruth
AU - Rubinsky, Anna
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful for the contributions of Alexander Johnson, study coordinator for this project. The authors received research funding from a specialty kidney care provider, Cricket Health Inc, to evaluate the Cricket Health digital education program. This study was supported by UCSF. Cricket Health Inc contributed to the study design and approved the final manuscript but was not involved in data collection, analyses, or interpretation of the data. UCSF was not involved in the design of the study, analysis, interpretation of data, or manuscript preparation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 JMIR Publications. All rights reserved.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Background: Patient education regarding end-stage renal disease (ESRD) has the potential to reduce adverse outcomes and increase the use of in-home renal replacement therapies. Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether an online, easily scalable education program can improve patient knowledge and facilitate decision making regarding renal replacement therapy options. Methods: We developed a 4-week online, digital educational program that included written information, short videos, and social networking features. Topics included kidney transplant, conservative management, peritoneal dialysis, in-home hemodialysis, and in-center hemodialysis. We recruited patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (stage IV and V) to enroll in the online program, and we evaluated the feasibility and potential impact of the digital program by conducting pre- A nd postintervention surveys in areas of knowledge, self-efficacy, and choice of ESRD care. Results: Of the 98 individuals found to be eligible for the study, 28 enrolled and signed the consent form and 25 completed the study. The average age of participants was 65 (SD 15) years, and the average estimated glomerular filtration rate was 21 (SD 6) ml/min/1.73 m2. Before the intervention, 32% of patients (8/25) were unable to make an ESRD treatment choice; after the intervention, all 25 participants made a choice. The proportion of persons who selected kidney transplant as the first choice increased from 48% (12/25) at intake to 84% (21/25) after program completion (P=.01). Among modality options, peritoneal dialysis increased as the first choice for 4/25 (16%) patients at intake to 13/25 (52%) after program completion (P=.004). We also observed significant increases in knowledge score (from 65 [SD 56] to 83 [SD 14]; P<.001) and self-efficacy score (from 3.7 [SD 0.7] to 4.3 [SD 0.5]; P<.001). Conclusions: Implementation of a digital ESRD education program is feasible and may facilitate patients' decisions about renal replacement therapies. Larger studies are necessary to understand whether the program affects clinical outcomes.
AB - Background: Patient education regarding end-stage renal disease (ESRD) has the potential to reduce adverse outcomes and increase the use of in-home renal replacement therapies. Objective: This study aimed to investigate whether an online, easily scalable education program can improve patient knowledge and facilitate decision making regarding renal replacement therapy options. Methods: We developed a 4-week online, digital educational program that included written information, short videos, and social networking features. Topics included kidney transplant, conservative management, peritoneal dialysis, in-home hemodialysis, and in-center hemodialysis. We recruited patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (stage IV and V) to enroll in the online program, and we evaluated the feasibility and potential impact of the digital program by conducting pre- A nd postintervention surveys in areas of knowledge, self-efficacy, and choice of ESRD care. Results: Of the 98 individuals found to be eligible for the study, 28 enrolled and signed the consent form and 25 completed the study. The average age of participants was 65 (SD 15) years, and the average estimated glomerular filtration rate was 21 (SD 6) ml/min/1.73 m2. Before the intervention, 32% of patients (8/25) were unable to make an ESRD treatment choice; after the intervention, all 25 participants made a choice. The proportion of persons who selected kidney transplant as the first choice increased from 48% (12/25) at intake to 84% (21/25) after program completion (P=.01). Among modality options, peritoneal dialysis increased as the first choice for 4/25 (16%) patients at intake to 13/25 (52%) after program completion (P=.004). We also observed significant increases in knowledge score (from 65 [SD 56] to 83 [SD 14]; P<.001) and self-efficacy score (from 3.7 [SD 0.7] to 4.3 [SD 0.5]; P<.001). Conclusions: Implementation of a digital ESRD education program is feasible and may facilitate patients' decisions about renal replacement therapies. Larger studies are necessary to understand whether the program affects clinical outcomes.
KW - Chronic kidney disease
KW - End-stage renal disease
KW - Online social networking
KW - Patient education
KW - Renal dialysis
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U2 - 10.2196/12528
DO - 10.2196/12528
M3 - Article
C2 - 30724735
AN - SCOPUS:85096869218
SN - 2561-326X
VL - 3
JO - JMIR Formative Research
JF - JMIR Formative Research
IS - 1
M1 - e12528
ER -