Viral load monitoring system

Abstract

Available evidence indicates that the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) is becoming the main source for delivering information on the prevention, control and treatment of HIV/AIDS. This proposal presents a further step in the use of the technology to meet the new challenge of managing HIV as a chronic illness. It describes the effect of non-adherence to HIV Antiretroviral treatment by people living with HIV/AIDS, the current situation of handling HIV patients and the various systems that are currently being used to monitor for HIV/AIDS care patients. The viral load monitoring system will be designed to provide a high-level of interaction and therefore improve some of the limitations of available systems manual filling forms of patient data. The system comprises three modules: (1) a patient self-monitoring personal diary, to create a follow-up patient record; (2) a data analysis tool; and (3) a section to allow patients to ask for advising from doctor support. One of the crucial system design issues has been the system security and user’s anonymity features required in this clinical domain. A feasibility pilot has been carried out to test the system in Makerere University Hospital located along Gadhafi Road involved in the research project. The preliminary results of the system evaluation show the potential validity and usefulness of the tool for helping people living with HIV/AIDS to promote and manage their viral load progress in the body, which will determine whether the antiretroviral treatment given to them is working or not and for providing Clinic personnel with new means for monitoring and caring patients. It goes further to detail the research methods to be used during the study i.e. reviewing literature, conducting interviews, focus groups that will help in the data collection process, use case diagrams that will help document the need user requirements, system implementation & validation, user testing to access how user are applying their skills in using the system. From the interviews carried out with the different interviewees, out of 10 affected patients, all had not access a Viral load monitoring system before. Our data findings also confirmed that most of the available systems relied on mobile communications and physical meetings as a mode of interaction with the patients. This project demonstrates a web-based system for capturing patient medication details and results and a mobile application to help patients continuously track the viral load progress in which a dedicated website was built using HTML, PHP, CSS and MYSQL and Mobile application was built in ANDROID Version 3.1. The aim is to enable them reach and match each other’s requirements using advanced instant custom search features. For integrity purposes, Patients will be able to access their viral results and other functions by using their assigned usernames and passwords given to them by the doctors. The major users of the system are: Administrators, Doctors, Patients