Investigating the effect of mobile application developed for patients with hypothyroidism on symptom severity and management

INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE: This study aims to develop valid and reliable scales to measure symptom severity and symptom management in hypothyroid patients and to evaluate the effect of a mobile application developed for hypothyroid patients on symptom severity and symptom management. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in two phases: methodological and randomized controlled. The first phase included 252 participants, and the second phase included 76 participants: 38 in the intervention group and 38 in the control group. In the second phase, hypothyroid patients in the intervention group used the mobile application HypoThyroManage for three months and were asked to follow recommendations for symptom management. Data were collected using the Patient Information Form, the Hypothyroidism Symptom Severity Scale (HSSS), the Hypothyroidism Symptom Management Scale (HSMS), and the Mobile Application Evaluation Form. Data were evaluated as follows: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach's Alpha for reliability, Pearson's correlation test, frequency distribution, independent samples t-test, and repeated measures analysis of variance were used to examine test-retest agreement. FINDINGS: Cronbach's Alpha coefficient of the developed scales was 0.925 for the HSSS and 0.933 for the HSSS. High correlations were obtained in the test-retest analysis (HSSS: r = 0.775; HSSS: r = 0.574). The scales were generally well-matched. Significant differences were found between the groups at t1 and t12 in terms of HSSS and HSSS scale scores; while the symptom management score increased in the intervention group over time, the symptom severity score decreased. Decreases in glucose, LDL, and TSH levels, increases in HDL, T3, and T4 levels, and increases in cholesterol were observed in the control group. CONCLUSION: The HSSS and HSSS scales are valid and reliable. The HypoThyroManage mobile application has positive effects on symptom management and severity.