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Idiopathic Nephrotic SyndromeNCT04075656

UrApp for Childhood Nephrotic Syndrome Management (Incident Cohort)

A study testing UrApp in people with Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome, run by Emory University at 3 sites in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome is one of the most common chronic kidney diseases in children. Patients suffer from frequent disease relapses and complications. Self-management is difficult for families and nonadherence is common, with adverse effects on the children's health. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome
What is being tested?
UrApp
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
58 participants
Where
3 sitesUnited States
Study dates
17 Sep 2019to 25 Apr 2025
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Caregivers of patients ages 1-17 with steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome (clinical diagnosis with edema, nephrotic range proteinuria [urine protein to creatinine ratio >2 mg/mg, or ≥ 300 mg/dL or ≥ 3+ protein on urine dipstick], and hypoalbuminemia ≤ 2.5 g/dL; resolution of proteinuria [negative/trace protein on urine dipstick] within 4 weeks of corticosteroid treatment)
  • Caregivers of pediatric patients with steroid sensitive nephrotic syndrome diagnosed within 42 days at the time of enrollment
  • Access to internet/wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) in the home
  • Caregiver proficiency with the English language

Who cannot join

  • Caregivers of pediatric patients with end-stage kidney disease
  • Caregivers of pediatric patients with renal transplantation
  • Caregivers of pediatric patients with clinical or histologic evidence of secondary nephrotic syndrome (e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus)

Trial locations and contacts

3 sites in 1 country.

United States3 sites
  • Children's Healthcare of Altanta

    Atlanta, Georgia, 30322

  • University of Minnesota Children's Hospital

    Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55454

  • Oregon Health and Science University

    Portland, Oregon, 97239

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: A Pilot Trial of UrApp, a Novel Mobile Application for Childhood Nephrotic Syndrome Management

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome is one of the most common chronic kidney diseases in children. Patients suffer from frequent disease relapses and complications. Self-management is difficult for families and nonadherence is common, with adverse effects on the children's health. UrApp is a mobile application designed to assist families with nephrotic syndrome management. This study will examine whether providing the children's caregivers (or adolescent patients) with UrApp improves self-management and disease outcomes. This study will include 60 caregivers of children with newly diagnosed nephrotic syndrome. Participants will be randomized 1:1 to UrApp or standard of care and followed for 1 year.

Read the detailed description

Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome (NS) is one of the most common chronic kidney diseases in children, with a prevalence of approximately 16 cases per 100,000 children. NS is characterized by heavy urinary losses of protein leading to hypoalbuminemia, edema, and hyperlipidemia. Children are treated with high-dose corticosteroids on presentation, and >80% respond to treatment with resolution of proteinuria and symptoms. However, 80-90% of the children initially sensitive to corticosteroids will experience disease relapse, with more than half relapsing frequently or becoming dependent on corticosteroids to maintain remission. During a relapse, patients can suffer from anasarca, acute kidney injury, serious infections, or thromboembolic events.

Management of children with NS entails long-term outpatient surveillance and treatment. Home care includes the important standard-of-care task of urine monitoring to follow the relapsing-remitting nature of the disease. New proteinuria signals disease relapse before the development of overt symptoms such as edema. Thus, patients are instructed to alert their providers to the occurrence of proteinuria in a timely manner so that corticosteroids can be initiated or adjusted to treat each relapse and prevent acute disease complications. It is also important for the patients to track urine protein for resolution so that corticosteroids can be stopped or reduced to minimize steroid toxicity.

Not unlike other chronic, relapsing-remitting pediatric disorders, self-management is difficult for NS patients and their caregivers. Mobile health (mHealth) is a promising, rapidly growing field in disease management. In NS, there are numerous aspects of self-management that may be facilitated by a mobile app. First, the visual analysis of a urine test strip is subject to human error, including reading the wrong reagent block and erroneous assessments of color. This can be improved through using a smartphone's camera and computer to read and analyze test strip results. Second, caregivers must remember to check their child's urine, recall results, and understand what the results mean: the demands are taxing in that disease relapse is defined as urine protein ≥2+ for 3 consecutive days and remission is defined as negative/trace urine protein for 3 consecutive days. Apps, with their inherent interactivity, can provide reminders for urine testing, capture the results, and analyze trends to detect disease relapse/remission. Apps can alert a caregiver to seek medical attention and directly transmit test results to providers. Lastly, apps can provide medication reminders for NS patients, who are on highly complex medication regimens.

UrApp was iteratively developed by an expert panel of two pediatric nephrologists and three research engineers with expertise in human-computer interaction. App features were devised by the clinicians to support elements of chronic care management according to the Chronic Care Model and tasks that are challenging for caregivers. This study will include 60 caregivers of children with newly diagnosed nephrotic syndrome. Participants will be randomized 1:1 to UrApp or standard of care and followed for 1 year. In addition to the study outcome measures, user feedback will be collected via survey, interview, and by stakeholder meetings to inform app refinement.

Being tested
Standard of Care, UrApp
Keywords
Pediatrics, mHealth, Behavioral intervention
Medical subject headings
Nephrosis, Lipoid

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Standard of CareBehavioural

    Participants will be provided a folder of educational material on NS, including general information on symptoms, treatments, and possible complications; healthy diet for children taking corticosteroids; and low sodium diet. Site research staff will demonstrate how to check urine for protein with test strips, and educate patients on the definitions of disease relapse and remission. Urine test strips and urine protein logs will be provided to ensure that each participant can check their urine daily for protein. Participants will be instructed to check their urine daily for protein and call their provider within 1 business day for relapses and remissions.

  • UrAppBehavioural

    Caregivers/parents will download UrApp at the baseline visit. UrApp contains instructional videos to guide users. The telephone number of the patient's provider will be entered into UrApp and participants will be able to call their providers directly through UrApp. The email address of the Emory study staff will also be entered. UrApp will automatically e-mail test results to the research staff when elected by the users. Participants will be asked by study staff, and reminded by the app, to call their providers and send urine testing results to the study staff whenever there is a relapse or remission. When the study staff receives alerts of a relapse/remission via UrApp, the information will be communicated to the treating physician within 1 business day.

Study groups in NCT04075656
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
UrAppExperimentalParticipants randomized to this study arm will use the UrApp mobile application for one year, in addition to receiving the standard of care.
Receives: Behavioral: Standard of Care; Behavioral: UrApp
Standard of CareActive comparatorParticipants randomized to this study arm will use receive the standard of care for one year.
Receives: Behavioral: Standard of Care

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Number of Participants Reporting Medication Adherence

    Adherence to medications is evaluated via caregiver survey with the validated 4-question Morisky, Green, and Levine (MGL) Adherence Scale. Response options are Yes (0) or No (1) and total scores range from 0 to 4 with higher scores indicating better medication adherence. Adherence will be defined as a score of ≥3 on the MGL scale.

    Measured: Baseline, Month 6, Month 12

  2. Number of Participants Reporting Adherence With Urine Monitoring

    Caregiver adherence with urine protein monitoring is assessed by asking caregivers on average how often they checked their child's urine for protein over the past month. Possible responses are "once a week", "2-4 times a week" or " 5-7 times a week." Adherence is defined as checking urine at least 2 times per week.

    Measured: Baseline, Month 6, Month 12

Secondary outcomes (5)
  1. Caregiver Self-efficacy Score

    Self-efficacy of caregivers for managing nephrotic syndrome of pediatric patients is assessed with a 3-item instrument adapted from the Chronic Disease Self-Efficacy Scales. Responses are given on a 10-point scale where 0 = not confident at all and 10 = totally confident. Total scores range from 0 to 30 with higher scores indicating increased self-efficacy.

    Measured: Baseline, Month 6, Month 12

  2. Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System - Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Score for Parents

    The 23-item PedsQL was developed as part of the NIH Roadmap Initiative to create universal measures for patient-reported outcomes and contains questions in the domains of social-peer, depression, anxiety, mobility, and function. Responses are given on a 5-point scale where 0 = never and 4 = almost always. Items are reverse scored and linearly transformed to a scale of 0 to 100, where higher total mean scores indicate a better quality of life.

    Measured: Baseline, Month 6, Month 12

  3. Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System - Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Score for Pediatric Patients

    The 23-item PedsQL was developed as part of the NIH Roadmap Initiative to create universal measures for patient-reported outcomes, and contains questions in the domains of social-peer, depression, anxiety, mobility, and function. Responses are given on a 5-point scale where 0 = never and 4 = almost always. Items are reverse scored and linearly transformed to a scale of 0 to 100, where higher total mean scores indicate a better quality of life.

    Measured: Baseline, Month 6, Month 12

  4. Number Pediatric Patients With Delayed Detection of Relapses

    Relapses detected only after patients experienced symptoms of relapse, indicating delayed detection, is compared between study arms. Patient medical charts were reviewed for occurrence and frequency of delayed relapse reporting which is defined as a relapse that was not reported to the treating physician until clinical manifestations or complications occurred and/or only discovered during planned or unplanned visits or hospitalizations.

    Measured: Month 6, Month 12

  5. Number of Hospitalizations Among Pediatric Patients

    Medical records were reviewed for the primary reason for admission and NS disease complications, such as bacterial peritonitis, septicemia, shock, blood clot(s), acute kidney injury, and seizures from hyponatremia or hypertension.

    Measured: Month 6, Month 12

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted3 Sep 2019
  2. Study start17 Sep 2019
  3. Primary completion25 Apr 2025
  4. Study completion25 Apr 2025

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
58 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04075656
Sponsor's protocol ID
IRB00108912
Other IDs
1K23DK118189-01A1
Status last verified
Oct 2025
First submitted
29 Aug 2019
Last updated
6 Nov 2025
Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
Yes: All of the individual participant data collected during the trial will be available for sharing, after deidentification.

Publications

  • Wang CS, Escoffery C, Patzer RE, McCracken C, Ross D, Rheault MN, Al-Uzri A, Greenbaum LA. A dual efficacy-implementation trial of a novel mobile application for childhood nephrotic syndrome management: the UrApp for childhood nephrotic syndrome management pilot study protocol (UrApp pilot study). BMC Nephrol. 2020 Apr 9;21(1):125. doi: 10.1186/s12882-020-01778-w.

    PubMed 32272901

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing UrApp in people with Idiopathic Nephrotic Syndrome, run by Emory University at 3 sites in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 6 Nov 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 3 sites in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 6 Nov 2025). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Number of Participants Reporting Medication Adherence (time frame: Baseline, Month 6, Month 12). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04075656, which also lists 1 linked publication.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 6 Nov 2025.

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