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Mobile Application for Celiac Disease Patients’ Wellness and Support

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Wireless Mobile Communication and Healthcare (MobiHealth 2019)

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Abstract

Celiac disease affects an estimated 1% of the population. The only existing treatment is a strict gluten-free diet but there are myriad aspects of managing the disease that affect the lifestyle of both the CD patient and those close to them. The goal of this study was to design, develop and test a prototype of a mobile application to promote wellness and support for individuals with CD. The proposed application’s aim is to serve as a platform for CD patients and members from their social circle, to help with sharing general and specific information about four lifestyle aspects: social, emotional, food, and wellness. The application aids with the management of a gluten-free diet from the social circle perspective for the specific CD patient. Perceptions towards the usability of the application were gathered from 22 participants and analyzed via a USE questionnaire. The results from the survey reported overall satisfaction of the prototype and useful insights were gathered for subsequent versions. The general expected benefit of this evidence-based application is improved quality of life for the CD patient due to their social circle being well informed about the management of the disease and its potential complications.

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Notes

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. P.W. (Paweł) Woźniak from the Faculty of Science at Utrecht University for his help with the analysis of the results, and Dr. T.J. (Trenton) Hagar from the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University for his help with the grammatical structure of the article. Additionally, the authors would like to thank the CD patients and their friends and family members who were willing to dedicate time to testing the app prototype and answering the survey.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 8, 3584 CS, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Sara Altamirano, Gudrun Thorsteinsdottir & Verónica Burriel

Authors
  1. Sara Altamirano
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  2. Gudrun Thorsteinsdottir
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  3. Verónica Burriel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Altamirano .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computer Science and Informatics, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland

    Gregory M.P. O'Hare

  2. School of Computer Science and Informatics, University College Dublin, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Michael J. O'Grady

  3. Malawi eHealth Research Center, Cork, Ireland

    John O’Donoghue

  4. University College Cork, Cork, Ireland

    Patrick Henn

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© 2020 ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering

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Altamirano, S., Thorsteinsdottir, G., Burriel, V. (2020). Mobile Application for Celiac Disease Patients’ Wellness and Support. In: O'Hare, G., O'Grady, M., O’Donoghue, J., Henn, P. (eds) Wireless Mobile Communication and Healthcare. MobiHealth 2019. Lecture Notes of the Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and Telecommunications Engineering, vol 320. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49289-2_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49289-2_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-49288-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-49289-2

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