CirrhoCare- Using Smart-phone Technology to Enhance Care and Access to Treatment for Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis is a serious liver condition where the liver becomes scarred over time. This can happen for different reasons, like drinking too much alcohol, having a fatty liver, or certain infections. Sadly, deaths from cirrhosis are on the rise, and it's a major reason why people lose working years. When cirrhosis becomes more severe, it's called decompensated cirrhosis. This means the liver isn't working as well as it should, and people can develop problems like fluid build-up, confusion, or infections, often needing urgent hospital trips. Even after leaving the hospital, many people with decompensated cirrhosis go back within a month with new problems.

Currently, people with decompensated cirrhosis need to visit the hospital regularly to make sure their condition isn't getting worse. But with more and more people getting liver disease, specialist liver services are stretched. The CirrhoCare study wants to find a better way to care for these patients. It uses a new system that lets people monitor their health at home using a smartphone app and special devices. These devices measure things like your heart rate, blood pressure, weight, and even your mental sharpness – all things that can change as cirrhosis gets worse.

The information collected at home is sent securely to your liver doctor. This helps them understand how you're doing and allows them to adjust your treatment more quickly and personally, without you always having to come to the hospital. The study will compare this new home monitoring system with the usual hospital care to see if it works better for patients and is also good value for money for the NHS. This could make a big difference for people with decompensated cirrhosis, especially considering the challenges of accessing specialist care.