Effects of a symptom management intervention based on group sessions combined with a mobile health application for persons living with HIV in China: A randomized controlled trial.
Shuyu Han, Yaolin Pei, Rui Zhao and 6 others
PMID 34631986WHAT IT FOUND
Chinese adults with HIV who received a symptom app plus four group sessions improved symptom knowledge and self-management certainty more than app access alone.
Symptom severity, distress, medication adherence, social support, and quality of life did not improve more than app access alone.
Key findings
01Compared with control, the intervention group improved symptom knowledge scores: knowledge of symptom reasons by 11.47 points (95% CI 3.41 to 19.53) and knowledge of symptom self-management by 12.80 points (95% CI 4.55 to 21.05).
02Symptom self-management certainty also improved significantly in the intervention group compared with control (P < 0.01).
03There were no significant between-group differences in symptom severity, symptom distress, ART medication adherence, perceived social support, or quality of life.
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What it does not show
Only 61 participants were recruited from one Shanghai center, so results may not apply to people living with HIV elsewhere in China. The intervention lasted four weeks and had no follow-up after that, so longer-term effects are unknown. Seven participants dropped out after the intervention, and missing post-intervention data were filled with baseline values. Only 16 of 31 participants assigned to the intervention group attended the group sessions, and app usage was not recorded. The intervention group had higher educational attainment at baseline than the control group (P = 0.025). Interventionists were not blinded, and outcomes were self-reported or measured with brief tools that may be insensitive. The app and group sessions were given together, so the effect of each component cannot be separated.
Declared interests
Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number 71673057) and the China Scholarship Council (No. 201906100135). The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that the app or group sessions reduced HIV symptoms, improved medication adherence, increased social support, or raised quality of life. The significant effects were on symptom knowledge and self-management certainty. The control group also had access to the app, and app usage was not recorded, so the contribution of the app and the group sessions cannot be separated.