Project: The Relief Study

Mobile health app to improve nasal corticosteroid adherence: a feasibility study

Nasal corticosteroids are widely recognised as the single most effective medication class for controlling hay fever symptoms, which in turn can help improve asthma control for people with both hay fever and asthma.

In recent years, mobile health apps are increasingly used as a tool to help improve self-management of chronic conditions and to improve adherence to medication. However, little is known about mobile health apps being used during the pollen season for improving hay fever self-management and nasal corticosteroid adherence and whether they are found useful by people who suffer from both hay fever and asthma.

Study aims

This study seeks to evaluate the usefulness of a free hay fever mobile health app called “Relief”, which has been made specifically for this study. The prototype app will contain the following functions:

  • Medication adherence e-diary
  • Daily hay fever and asthma symptoms e-diary
  • Medication adherence reminders/notifications
  • Pollen forecast
  • Informational content

We seek to recruit 20-30 participants to try out our prototype app for 6 weeks and complete a questionnaire before and after the study. Also, we would like to invite 10 participants from this group to take part in a one-hour interview at the end of the study. These interviews will be arranged by video-call at a convenient time for each participant.

For further details, please read our Patient Information Sheet:

Take part in the study

Are you, or do you know anyone who is 16-29 years old, have hay fever (seasonal allergic rhinitis) and asthma and is prescribed nasal corticosteroid spray medication?

Help the Relief Study team test a prototype app for improving adherence to nasal corticosteroid medication and self-management of hay fever.

Register for the Relief Study

Key People


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Headshot of Mats Stage Baxter

Mats Stage Baxter

Study Lead and PhD student
University of Edinburgh
Mat's PhD Profile
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Professor Jurgen Schwarze

Professor Jürgen Schwarze

Professor of Child Life and Health
University of Edinburgh
Jurgen's Profile
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Headshot of Aziz Sheikh

Professor Sir Aziz Sheikh

Centre Director
University of Edinburgh
Aziz's Profile
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headshot of Andy Bush

Professor Andrew Bush

Professor of Paediatrics and Paediatric Respirology
Imperial College London
Andrew's Profile

Timeline

The study will commence during late May 2023 in the midst of the hay fever season in the UK.

Contact Us

Email the study team

Phone: +44 07774641038

Acknowledgements

Funding: Chief Scientist Office (CSO) Scotland

Technical partner: uMotif Limited - uMotif terms and conditions