Self-care Mobile Application for Pregnant Women at Work: Development and Usability Study (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Pregnant women at work often encounter barriers to maintaining proper self-care practices due to their working conditions. Participating in prenatal education or even drinking enough water and eating healthy food are often limited in this population. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to develop a mobile-based intervention application for pregnant women at work to enhance their self-care practices, which can contribute to a healthy pregnancy. METHODS The Self-care for Pregnant Women at Work (SPWW) mobile application was developed based on the findings of a systematic review of this topic. The usability tests were performed by 31 pregnant women at work and expert reviews were performed by ten women’s health-care clinicians. Both groups used the application for two weeks and evaluated its usability. The instruments used in this study were a modified Health Practices in Pregnancy Questionnaire II (HPQ-II) and a System Usability Scale (SUS). Descriptive analyses and t-tests were performed using SPSS 25.0. The participants’ open-ended answers were analyzed using ATLAS.ti 8. RESULTS The application program was developed focusing on four self-care topics: healthy dieting, physical activity, sufficient rest, and stress management. A total of eight education sessions covering the four topics were delivered through the application. The pregnant women’s health practices on enhancing exercise, drinking adequate fluid, and limiting daily caffeine intake significantly improved after using the application for two weeks. The SUS scores from both the experts and the pregnant women demonstrated good usability. Several improvements for feasibility, usability, and acceptability were suggested by expert and pregnant women. CONCLUSIONS The application developed in this study aimed to enhance the self-care practices of pregnant women at work. The application showed adequate levels of feasibility, usability, and acceptability from both the experts and the pregnant women. Future research is necessary to test the long-term effects of this application on larger sample sizes.