Mobile Self-Management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome for Adolescents

 描述(由申请人提供)：BodiMojo Buddy移动应用程序适用于患有肠易激综合征(IBS)的青少年，是一种重要的新自我管理工具，将教育青少年，培养自我护理技能，并补充患者与医生的互动。肠易激综合征是青少年常见的消化系统疾病，对青少年的生活质量有深远的影响。肠易激综合征和相关的功能性肠道疾病已被列为与疾病相关的旷工的常见原因，仅次于普通感冒(Cain等人，2006年)。IBS是一种复杂的慢性功能性疾病，无法治愈，其特征是腹痛/不适和排便习惯改变；其他症状可能包括恶心、呕吐和腹胀。尽管IBS相当普遍--北美成年人和青少年的患病率估计在10%-15%之间--但青少年可以帮助他们自我管理IBS症状的东西非常少。该应用程序的目标是为患有IBS的青少年开发一种移动自我管理支持干预，可以通过互动技能培养、自我护理和基于正念的认知行为活动来增加患者的参与度。以证据为基础的自我管理支持将通过虚拟教练或“具体化对话代理”(ECA)向患有IBS的青少年提供。将虚拟教练融入基于技术的健康干预中，可以提供许多优势，例如：(1)创建同理心和社会纽带，有助于增加对虚拟教练鼓励的健康养生的遵守；(2)它们可能有效地在一段时间内保持一些健康行为的改变；以及(3)它们可能非常适合那些对自己的医疗状况感到羞愧、社会孤立和对适应感到担忧的群体。因此，这种方法可能特别有帮助 适用于患有IBS的青少年。拟议计划的具体目标是通过虚拟教练BodiMojo Buddy加强IBS的自我管理，并通过支持和健康促进材料帮助照顾者加强青少年的自我照顾。将通过以下具体目标制定和评估干预措施的可行性：(1)深入访谈，收集患有IBS的青少年、照顾者和提供者的意见，为基于移动的干预的设计和内容提供信息；(2)为虚拟教练创建教育内容计划和情感建模技术规范；(3)开发手机应用程序原型和家长视频教程；(4)对患有IBS的青少年进行BodiMojo Buddy原型的试点测试；(5)与照顾者和提供者进行接受度测试。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The BodiMojo Buddy mobile app for adolescents with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) represents a significant new self-management tool that will educate adolescents, build self-care skills and complement patient-physician interactions. IBS is a common digestive condition among adolescents that has profound effects on adolescent quality of life. IBS and related functional bowel disorders have been ranked as a common cause of illness-related absenteeism, second only to the common cold (Cain et al., 2006). IBS is a complex, chronic, functional disorder that has no cure and is characterized by abdominal pain/discomfort and altered bowel habits; other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, and bloating. Despite the fact that IBS is quite common-prevalence estimates in North America for adults and adolescents are between 10- 15 percent-there is remarkably little available to adolescents to help them self-manage the symptoms of IBS. The goal of this application is to develop a mobile self-management support intervention for adolescents living with IBS that can serve to increase patient engagement through interactive skill-building, self-care, and mindfulness- based cognitive behavioral activities. Evidence-based self-management support will be delivered to adolescents with IBS through a virtual coach or "embodied conversational agent" (ECA). Virtual coaches offer a number of advantages when incorporated into technology-based health interventions, such as: (1) creating empathy and social bonds that can serve to increase adherence to health regimens that are encouraged by the virtual coach; (2) they may be effective for maintaining a number of health behavior changes over a period of time; and (3) they may be well-suited to groups who experience shame about their medical condition, social isolation, and harbor worries about fitting in. This approach, therefore, may be especially helpful for adolescents with IBS. The specific goals of the proposed program are to enhance self-management of IBS through a virtual coach, the BodiMojo Buddy, and help caregivers reinforce their adolescent's self-care with support and health promotion materials. The feasibility of this intervention will be developed and evaluated through these specific aims: (1) conduct in-depth interviews to gather input from adolescents with IBS, caregivers, and providers to inform design and content of the mobile-based intervention; (2) create an educational content plan and emotional modeling technical specifications for the virtual coach; (3) develop the mobile app prototype and parent video tutorials; (4) conduct a pilot test of the BodiMojo Buddy prototype with adolescents who have IBS; (5) conduct acceptance testing with caregivers and providers.