A Novel mHealth Intervention to Improve Outcomes of Children With Medical Complexity

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · Mar 12, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a new mobile health app called MyChildCMC, designed to help monitor and improve the health of children with medical complexity (CMC). These are children who have multiple chronic health issues and often face frequent hospital visits due to their fragile condition. The goal of the trial is to see if using this app can help detect early signs of health problems before they require a trip to the emergency room or hospital, ultimately reducing hospital admissions and improving quality of life for these children and their families.

To participate in the trial, children aged 1 to 18 years who meet specific health criteria can enroll along with their parents or caregivers. Participants will use the MyChildCMC app daily for six months, while another group will receive usual care for comparison. The study will also look at how well the app works for different racial and ethnic groups, as well as those facing social challenges, ensuring that all families have equal access to this important health resource. Participants can expect support throughout the study, including financial incentives for their involvement, and those without a smartphone or internet access will receive assistance to ensure they can participate.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • CMC, ages 1-18 years and their parents (or primary caregivers)
• • CMC (inpatients or outpatients) who receive care at participating sites (comprehensive care clinics for CMC)
• • Own (or provided) a smartphone or tablet with internet access
• • Speak English or Spanish.
• • CMCs are identified using an operational definition, as having: 1) multisystem chronic diseases involving ≥3 organ systems, 2) ≥3 HCPs involved in their care, 3) high fragility or frequent (≥2) or 1 prolonged (\>10 days) hospitalization in the prior year, and/or 4) medical technology dependence.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Critically ill CMC and infants.
• • CMC exhibit similar developmental and functional abilities and typically function below expected for a 7-year-old child, allowing inclusion of a wide age range in studies.
• • Infants were excluded as many CMC \<1 year have prematurity-related conditions that may resolve by age 2.
• • CMC \>18 years of age were not included as some may transition to adult health care.
• • Note: No one will be excluded due to lack of smartphone/internet access. We estimated \<10% of families may not have a smartphone/internet, and will provide them low-cost tablets and cellular internet access.