Children's Hospital Creates Free App for iPhone® and
iPod Touch®; Helps Doctors Record Side Effects in Clinical Trials
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 10
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A physician or nurse making rounds can locate and
page through a 200-page reference book that lists the possible adverse events
that may occur to patients in a clinical trial, or can instead keep all the
same information in their pocket, in a 4-ounce iPhone. For many in healthcare,
that's an easy choice.
The
classifications of adverse events originated in the National Cancer Institute
as a way to help standardize record-keeping of side effects occurring in
patients enrolled in clinical trials. Printed out, the Institute's Common
Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) is a 200-page handbook in its
most recent edition, version 4.0.
The
Center for Biomedical Informatics (CBMi) at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia converted
all the reference information into a software application, or "app"
that anyone with an iPhone® or iPod touch® can download for free from the App
StoreSM on the internet. People with iPhones can already find apps for locating
restaurants, planning travel routes or translating phrases into foreign
languages. Now health care providers are using apps in the interests of patient
care.
From an
alphabetized list of symptoms, tap in "ear pain" or
"tremor," and the touch screen will display a definition, and then
list grades of the problem—mild, moderate or severe. Using these categories, a
care provider or clinical trial researcher can log data into the trial's
records, so it can be shared with other hospitals and physicians having
patients participating in the same trial. A user can bookmark adverse events
and categories that require more frequent access.
Monitoring
the safety of treatments used in clinical trials is crucial to providing the
best results for current and future patients. "Researchers can use this
app to quickly access information at the point of care, and improve the
efficiency of our research," said Peter C. Adamson, M.D.,
director of the Office of Clinical Translational Research at Children's
Hospital, and chair-elect of the Children's Oncology Group.
Although
the classifications used in CTCAE originated in oncology research, they have
broader application in clinical trials for other conditions, said Peter White, Ph.D.,
director of CBMi at Children's Hospital, and a leader of the team that created
the app. "When researchers write the protocol for a clinical trial, they
know that one element of patient protection is standardized record-keeping, so
they may incorporate the CTCAE rubric in their protocol."
White
added that in addition to researchers, other caregivers such as attending
physicians and medical students have been using the CTCAE app as an information
resource, independent of clinical trials. "This app is one example of
mobile health development, in which we are assisting healthcare staff in
accessing the next generation of information technologies," he added.
"Besides the immediate benefits for efficiency, we feel that using this
type of technology has significant potential for standardizing care delivery,
reducing error, an improving both quality of care and patient safety."
To
download the CTCAE free of charge, users with an iTunes account can search the
App Store for "ctcae" or click on one of these direct links:
Some
trials may use the previous version (v.3.0), available at
The
CTCAE app team at Children's Hospital included lead developer Michael Italia, Byron Ruth, Lauren Frazier and Jeff Pennington in
CBMi's Translational Informatics Unit.
About
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was
founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its
long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new
generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research
initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have
benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the
largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding.
In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have
brought the 460-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and
adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu.
Apple,
the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod touch and iTunes are trademarks of Apple Inc.,
registered in the U.S. and other countries. iPad is a trademark of Apple Inc.
App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.
