Discussion
In this study, across all strata, patients with CU demonstrated significant interest in using an app for monitoring their disease activity and control. Being female, higher education, and having both CSU and CIndU were important drivers of this interest.
Given our findings, there is a clear unmet need for well-developed apps, particular for CU disease type, that could comprehensively document patients’ daily disease activity (triggers, QoL, comorbidities, consequences) and accurately account for disease control or lack thereof. Apps could also provide detailed and unique data about each patient, which would enable practitioners to develop and implement individualized treatment plans and adapt quickly according to disease course. Yet, while most CU patients are highly interested in using apps to document their condition, suitable ones which would thoroughly assess their condition are limited in number, function, geographical reach, and none covered comorbidities; importantly only one app noted by Anto et al assessed disease control.3
Our study included a large sample of patients and utilized a network of researchers across the world. However, the study design was cross-sectional and therefore cause-and-effect relationships could not be detected; in addition, while the questionnaire was developed by experts worldwide, it has not been confirmed in validation studies to date.