Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a common genetic disorder characterized by episodes of pain, yet programs to assist SCD adolescents with better identification and communication about pain are lacking. Research shows that interactive gaming technology can enhance adolescents' learning, and can be especially effective in delivering health-related messages and tools to improve self-care. Pinpoint is an interactive gaming app that will be tested in a Phase II project to determine whether the app assists SCD teens with improving their communication and identification skills for pain self-report.
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common inherited blood disorder in the U.S. and disproportionately affects African Americans and Hispanics. Approximately, 1,000 U.S. children are born with SCD annually. SCD results from abnormal hemoglobin and causes red blood cells (RBCs) to become misshaped ("sickle-shaped"). Sickled cells can block the flow of blood in small arteries causing tissue and organ damage and other life-threatening comorbidities. SCD complications can be serious and have a significant impact upon well-being and quality of life. Pain is the hallmark symptom associated with SCD, and is the most common clinical problem seen in children and the number one cause of SCD-related hospital admissions. If left untreated, these painful episodes can result in morbidity and mortality. Accurate assessment of pain specifiers (type, frequency, and intensity of pain) can help with ameliorating pain quickly and effectively. Despite children being accurate self-reporters of their pain, strategies which are effective and engaging to assist with pain identification and communication of pain are lacking. In a Phase I SBIR, the investigator's team examined the feasibility and acceptability of a gamified tablet application (Pinpoint) intended to encourage teens to talk about and assess their SCD pain. The Phase I specific aims were : (1) work with an Expert Advisory Board (EAB) of experts to develop a new pain assessment tool (PAT) to engage adolescent SCD patients, improve pain specification by patients, and improve pain management by clinicians; (2) conduct cognitive interviews and focus groups with 13-17 year old SCD patients to guide and refine development of app content, design, and aesthetics to fully develop a functioning prototype; (3) conduct usability testing with 13-17 year old SCD patients to assess functionality, navigation, and satisfaction; (4) conduct cognitive interviews with medical providers to provide input on app content, perceived barriers to use, and its potential for clinical use and integration to inform future implementation; and (5) develop a specifications document to outline the Phase II development plan. Deliverables were met and feasibility was confirmed by the EAB. The proposed Phase II project will (1) develop a fully programmed, interactive Pinpoint app consisting of modules to address pain identification and communication; (2) conduct usability testing of Pinpoint to evaluate the user interface, ease of use, and perceived barriers in order to optimize the app prior to large scale evaluation (n=14); and (3) test the full app with 13-17 year olds with SCD (n=100) using a randomized step wedge design to evaluate changes in (a) knowledge acquisition for communicating about pain and types of pain; (b) the Pain Assessment; (c) SCD general knowledge and self-efficacy; (d) family cohesion; and (e) app usage. Overall, the proposed project has the potential to significantly impact the health of SCD teens by providing important skill acquisition for communicating about and identifying pain. This project is innovative and timely. Pinpoint will be the first app to identify and translate specific pain types for SCD into a gamified app using applied gamification principles.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
24
Tablet and smartphone app with pain assessment and communication education, and pain assessment tool.
Klein Buendel, Inc.
Golden, Colorado, United States
Hilton Publishing Company
Munster, Indiana, United States
Sickle Cell Self-efficacy Scale Reported by Adolescents
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) self-efficacy: This instrument, used to assess self-efficacy in adolescents with SCD, is comprised of 9 questions measuring participants' perceptions of their ability to function on a day-to-day basis and to manage SCD symptoms (e.g., pain). The instrument is reliable and valid for assessing adolescents' self-efficacy for engaging successfully in day-to-day activities despite having SCD. Responses from individual items are summed to give an overall score. Higher scores indicate greater self-efficacy. Range = 0-45 (min=10 max=45).
Time frame: baseline
Sickle Cell Self-efficacy Scale Reported by Adolescents
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) self-efficacy: This instrument, used to assess self-efficacy in adolescents with SCD, is comprised of 9 questions measuring participants' perceptions of their ability to function on a day-to-day basis and to manage SCD symptoms (e.g., pain). The instrument is reliable and valid for assessing adolescents' self-efficacy for engaging successfully in day-to-day activities despite having SCD. Responses from individual items are summed to give an overall score, with higher scores indicating greater self-efficacy. Range = 0-45 (min= 9; max = 45).
Time frame: 4-weeks
Sickle Cell Self-efficacy Scale Reported by Adolescents
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) self-efficacy: This instrument, used to assess self-efficacy in adolescents with SCD, is comprised of 9 questions measuring participants' perceptions of their ability to function on a day-to-day basis and to manage SCD symptoms (e.g., pain). The instrument is reliable and valid for assessing adolescents' self-efficacy for engaging successfully in day-to-day activities despite having SCD. Responses from individual items are summed to give an overall score. Higher scores indicate greater self-efficacy. Range = 0-45 (min= 24 max=45).
Time frame: 8-weeks
Sickle Cell Self-efficacy Scale Reported by Adolescents
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) self-efficacy: This instrument, used to assess self-efficacy in adolescents with SCD, is comprised of 9 questions measuring participants' perceptions of their ability to function on a day-to-day basis and to manage SCD symptoms (e.g., pain). The instrument is reliable and valid for assessing adolescents' self-efficacy for engaging successfully in day-to-day activities despite having SCD. Responses from individual items are summed to give an overall score, with higher scores indicating greater self-efficacy. Range = 0-45 (min=26 max=45).
Time frame: 12-weeks
Sickle Cell Self-efficacy Scale
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) self-efficacy: This instrument, used to assess self-efficacy in adolescents with SCD, is comprised of 9 questions measuring participants' perceptions of their ability to function on a day-to-day basis and to manage SCD symptoms (e.g., pain). The instrument is reliable and valid for assessing adolescents' self-efficacy for engaging successfully in day-to-day activities despite having SCD. Responses from individual items are summed to give an overall score, with higher scores indicating greater self-efficacy. Range = 0-45 (min=18 max=45).
Time frame: 16-weeks
System Usability Scale (SUS)
Technology acceptability: The System Usability Scale (SUS) is a reliable tool for measuring the usability of technologies. It consists of a 10-item questionnaire with five response options for respondents; from Strongly agree to Strongly disagree. The participant's scores for each question are converted to a new number, added together and then multiplied by 2.5 to convert the original scores of 0-40 to 0-100. Though the scores are 0-100, these are not percentages and should be considered only in terms of their percentile ranking. Based on research, a SUS score above a 68 would be considered above average and anything below 68 is below average. Range = 37.5-100
Time frame: final posttest (either 12-weeks or 16-weeks, per stepped wedge design)
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