The RE-BUILD (REgistry for Better Understanding of ILD) App is part of a research study being conducted in Australia at The University of Sydney in collaboration with Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, The Alfred Hospital, and Austin Health.
The aim of this study is to determine the feasibility of a smartphone app that enables participants diagnosed with Interstitial Lung Disease to:
- Self-enter data (eg. medical investigation results, medications, symptoms and quality of life information)
- Access information resources and links to support resources
- Review potential matches with clinical trials based on eligibility criteria
- Stay up-to-date with air quality in their current location
- Monitor, track and receive encouragement about their daily physical activity (steps and distance travelled) via integration with Apple HealthKit and the Apple Health app.
If the AILDR App is demonstrated to be feasible and effective it will be made available across Australian and New Zealand ILD centres to simplify data collection for the AILDR and also generate important longitudinal data about patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) that can be analysed in multi-centre collaborative research.
Importantly, the multifunctionality of the app may have other benefits such as increased patient motivation, knowledge and social connectedness.
Additionally, a smartphone app is an easily accessible tool that may improve the ease of data collection for patients living rurally or remotely who are not close to ILD centres – important in a large country such as Australia.