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Dipping at home: is it better, easier, and more convenient? A feasibility and acceptability study of a novel home urinalysis using a smartphone application

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Abstract

Background

Monitoring proteinuria in patients with kidney disease is of crucial importance given its implications for long-term disease progression and clinical management. Leveraging digital health technology to provide a clinical grade urinalysis result from home holds the potential to greatly enhance the clinical experience and workflows for patients, caregivers, and providers. The goal of this study was to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of a home-based urinalysis kit using a smartphone application.

Methods

This is a prospective cohort study of children and young adults (5–21 years of age) at a single pediatric center. The study received ethical board approval. Families performed a home urine test using the Healthy.io smartphone app. The app was compared with standard of care of either home dipstick monitoring or urinalysis performed in clinic or a local laboratory. Patient satisfaction was compared between the new app and current practice.

Results

A total of 103 children, 63 (61%) male and median age 10.9 years (inter-quartile range 7.8–14.2), were enrolled. Primary diagnosis included 47 (46%) glomerular disease, 48 (47%) non-glomerular kidney disease, and 8 (8%) kidney transplant recipients. One hundred and one (98%) patients reported being satisfied with the smartphone app compared to 41 (40%) patients who were satisfied with the current practice for urine protein monitoring (p < 0.0001). Positive themes identified included ease of use, convenience, and immediacy and accuracy of results.

Conclusions

The Healthy.io home urine testing app received very high rates of satisfaction among patients and caregivers compared to current practice and holds great potential to enhance patient-centered care.

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Funding

Healthy.io provided the urine home kits and technical support for the portal. Additional funding for this project was provided by the Pediatric Center of Excellence in Nephrology (PCEN) at CHOP (P50DK114786).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nephrology, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Daniella Levy Erez, Hannah Derwick, Susan Furth, Lance Ballester & Michelle Denburg

  2. Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Daniella Levy Erez, Susan Furth & Michelle Denburg

  3. Schneider Children’s Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel

    Daniella Levy Erez

  4. Healthy IO, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Stephanie Omuemu, Yonathan Adiri & Jonah Mink

Authors
  1. Daniella Levy Erez
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  2. Hannah Derwick
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  3. Susan Furth
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  4. Lance Ballester
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  5. Stephanie Omuemu
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  6. Yonathan Adiri
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  7. Jonah Mink
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  8. Michelle Denburg
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Correspondence to Daniella Levy Erez.

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Erez, D.L., Derwick, H., Furth, S. et al. Dipping at home: is it better, easier, and more convenient? A feasibility and acceptability study of a novel home urinalysis using a smartphone application. Pediatr Nephrol 38, 139–143 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-022-05556-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-022-05556-8

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