Empowering Quality of Life Monitoring and Self‐Management in Bipolar Disorder: Pilot Evaluation of the PolarUs App

TL;DR

The PolarUs app was developed to help people with bipolar disorder monitor and improve their quality of life through self-management strategies.

Contribution

The PolarUs app is a co-designed, scalable intervention for bipolar disorder that focuses on quality of life self-monitoring.

Findings

Significant improvements in quality of life, mood symptoms, and self-compassion were observed during the 12-week intervention.

Four distinct clusters of app adherence were identified, each with different relationships to baseline quality of life and improvement trajectories.

Abstract

Smartphone apps facilitate the dissemination of resources to help people with bipolar disorder (BD) implement self‐management strategies. However, current apps do not address all treatment outcomes valued by people with BD, nor are they designed with scalability in mind. This study evaluated the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an alpha version of the co‐designed PolarUs app, a self‐guided intervention developed to support quality of life (QoL) self‐monitoring and self‐management in BD.

North American residents with a confirmed diagnosis of BD used the iOS PolarUs app for 12 weeks. To assess feasibility, adherence rates were assessed, operationalized by completion of weekly in‐app Brief Quality of Life in BD (QoL.BD) scores. Linear mixed modeling was used to test the hypothesis that QoL (primary outcome) would improve over the intervention period and explore secondary outcomes (i.e., mood symptoms, self‐efficacy, subjective recovery, self‐compassion). Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to investigate associations between app adherence and primary outcomes.

In 170 participants (70% women, mean age 39 years SD = 12.1) there was a steady decline in app adherence over the intervention period, with 37% of participants completing their final weekly assessment. However, significant improvements were observed overall for QoL, mood symptoms, and self‐compassion. Four distinct app adherence clusters were observed, displaying varying relationships with baseline QoL and trajectories of QoL improvement.

Preliminary adherence and efficacy data for the PolarUs app are positive and demonstrate how the inclusion of lived experience perspectives in app development supports intervention acceptability and impact.

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