May 21, 2014 06:47 AM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Texting doctors help adolescents with chronic diseases like cystic fibrosis, gastrointestinal disorders (including Crohn's disease) and Type 1 diabetes to better manage their healthcare, according to a University of California San Diego study. The teens are also more likely to report early signs of health problems.

"Give them a voice, and they will talk," lead author Dr. Jeannie Huang said. "And that's really what we want them to do," NY Daily News reports. "How do you reach people who don't come into the clinic?" she said. "Mobile technology is a great way because it's meeting teens in their own space."

Researchers said that teens suffering from chronic diseases often delay in seeking an appointment to report their symptoms. The delays are common when young adults are in transition from being pediatric patients to adult medical patients. Interventions to help young people with the transition do not always succeed as they are expensive and labor-intensive.

For the study, the researchers designed and developed a communication tool called MD2Me in an attempt to help young adults with chronic diseases to shift effortlessly into adult healthcare. The study included 81 adolescents between 12 and 20 years old with diabetes, cystic fibrosis or inflammatory bowel disease.

Researchers assigned half of them to MD2Me and the rest received health-management materials in the mail and served as a control group. Both the groups received information on how to fill prescriptions, how to monitor symptoms, how to obtain health insurance and how to communicate with doctors and friends about chronic illnesses.

The researchers found that MD2Me participants fared better than the control group. They displayed confidence and capabilities of looking after their illness. Plus, these patients twice requested for help, while the controls initiated none.

"It was a great medical engineering effort," Huang said.

The finding is published in Journal Paediatrics.

Dr. Mark Applebaum from the University of Chicago said that texting helps people to be self-efficient and take control of their health.

"What the study really proved is that the issues children with chronic illness face are universal - how to call the doctor, when to call the doctor, how to get medication. For patients with chronic illness, once they turn 18 or go to college, their health status often deteriorates. If you leave a voicemail on a teenager's phone, they're likely not to check it for a month. The teens vastly prefer text messaging," Applebaum said.

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