Developing tailored dietary advice for people with MS

Dr Vivienne Guan

University of Wollongong, NSW

January 2021

specialisation: Social And Applied Research

focus area: Better treatments

funding type: Fellowship

project type: Investigator Led Research

Summary

Although there currently are no conclusive dietary guidelines for people living with MS that delay or prevent disease progression, there is great demand from the MS community for easily accessible information to help with healthy food choices. Previous research has shown that people living with MS embrace support and advice to self-manage MS and improve their quality of life, and dietary advice is often sought as part of planning a wellness strategy. Additionally, symptoms of MS such as cognitive issues, depression, fatigue and pain can play havoc with day-to-day life, affecting food choices and the effort required to prepare food, possibly leading to suboptimal nutrition. 

The aim of Dr Vivienne Guan’s research involved developing and evaluating a mobile phone app to support people living with MS to self-manage food choices in line with current Australian dietary guidelines. For people living with MS, this may relieve some of the cognitive stress associated with planning and co-ordinating food choices on a daily basis.  

Utilising the background of her extensive experience in information technology, Dr Guan co-developed the app with practicing dietitians, people living with MS and academics in Computer Science and Information Technology to reflect the current needs of the MS community, whilst being user-friendly and readily available. It was anticipated that this community involvement would lead to an app which promotes self-management, reduces stress and improves the quality of life for those living with MS. 

Outcome

Dr Guan and her team have created a prototype for a new mobile phone app to personally guide food choices for people living with MS. The app uses the Australian Dietary Guidelines and strategies from cognitive behavioural theory. The main features of this app include automatically retrieving food items by using a photo, a traffic light system for recipes, goal setting, gamification for tracking food choices and user-driven reminders to support users in achieving their goals for food choices. 

The prototype was rated overall as “acceptable” for quality as an app. Interviews with people living with MS showed they saw the benefits of using artificial intelligence outweighed any potential harms when using nutrition apps for self-management and that these apps improved accessibility and inclusiveness. 

publications

  • Howard Z., Win K.T., Guan V., Mobile apps used for people living with multiple sclerosis: A scoping review, Mult Scler Relat Disord.  2023 May;73:104628. https://www.msard-journal.com/article/S2211-0348(23)00132-3/fulltext
  • Probst Y., Guan V., Van Der Walt A., Rath L.M., Bonney A., Kent J.. Patient self-management and empowerment for multiple sclerosis: The implications of dietary lifestyle management for primary care, Aust J Gen Pract. 2022 Apr;51(4):209-212Top of Form
  • Guan V, Zhou C, Wan H, Zhou R, Zhang D, Zhang S, Yang W, Voutharoja BP, Wang L, Win KT, Wang P. A novel mobile app for personalized dietary advice leveraging persuasive technology, computer vision and cloud computing: development and usability study. JMIR Formative Research. 2023;  doi:10.2196/46839
  • Probst Y, Luscombe M, Hilfischer M, Guan V, Houston L. Exploring factors to interpretation of targeted nutrition messages for people living with multiple sclerosis. Patient Education and Counseling. 2024; 119:108039

Updated 31 March 2024 

lead investigator

total funding

$165,000

start year

2021

duration

3 years

STATUS

Past project

Stages of the research process

Fundamental laboratory Research

Laboratory research that investigates scientific theories behind the possible causes, disease progression, ways to diagnose and better treat MS.

Lab to clinic timeline

10+ years

Translational Research

Research that builds on fundamental scientific research to develop new therapies, medical procedures or diagnostics and advances it closer to the clinic.

Lab to clinic timeline

5+ years

Clinical Studies and Clinical Trials

Clinical research is the culmination of fundamental and translational research turning those research discoveries into treatments and interventions for people with MS.

Lab to clinic timeline

3+ years

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Developing tailored dietary advice for people with MS