Content area
Abstract
Background eHealth interventions are developed and offered more and more to patients with chronic diseases in order to improve their self-management [1-3]. Since young adults are one of the most active groups of internet users, eHealth interventions like portals and self-management support programs may also be promising options for patients with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) [1, 2, 4-12]. Randomization Because the intervention was group-based with six participants per group, randomization was carried out each time 12 participants were included in the study. Since more women are diagnosed with a rheumatic disease compared to men, stratified block, randomization for the factor ‘gender’ to equally divide ‘men’ and ‘women’ among both groups, using a computerized intervention with an automated process, was conducted with no interference from the investigator. [...]both control and intervention groups registered relatively high baseline scores on the domains of self-efficacy, self-management and QoL, so there was little room for improvement. [...]although the predetermined calculated number of patients was included, there was some drop-out in the follow-up leading to a small sample size at the end of the study.