Subjects with osteoarthritis can easily use a handheld touch screen electronic device to report medication use: qualitative results from a usability study

Abstract

ObjectivesElectronic data capture is increasingly used to improve collection of patient-reported outcome measures in clinical trials and care. The validation of electronic patient-reported outcome devices requires information on patient preference and ease of use. This study conducted usability testing for a General Symptom Questionnaire and Medication Module™ on a handheld device for subjects with osteoarthritis (OA) to determine whether subjects can report on their symptoms and medication use using an electronic diary.MethodsNine subjects with OA participating in a large US mode equivalency study were surveyed independently in this study. Subjects completed a General Symptom Questionnaire and Medication Module™ using the LogPad® LW handheld device. Demographic and technology use information was collected, and the subjects were queried on device usability.ResultsSubjects reported that the handheld device was easy to use and that they were able to complete a General Symptom Questionnaire and Medication Module™ with little or no assistance. They did not report any issues with the screen or size of the device. Subjects were willing to travel with the device to complete electronic diaries at home or in public. Participants indicated that they would be able to use the handheld device to answer questions during a clinical trial. Subjects with OA experienced no physical discomfort during completion of either questionnaire.ConclusionThe General Symptom Questionnaire and Medication Module™ were usable and acceptable to subjects with OA on a handheld device. This was consistent regardless of previous experience and confidence with technology, despite the potential physical restrictions for an OA cohort.

Mobile Health Apps for Self-Management of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases: Systematic Literature Review

“…Only 15% (5/32) of articles stated that patients were included in the development of the apps. A qualitative phase occurred in only 18% (6/32) of the cases [19,27,30,33,36,37]. This qualitative phase consisted of individual interviews (4 different studies), patient focus group (1 study), or patients focus groups and individual interviews (1 study).…”

The Iterative Convergent Design for Mobile Health Usability Testing: Mixed Methods Approach

“…Previous single method usability studies were limited in their findings. Some studies have assessed usability using only qualitative data [72-74]. These studies can only elucidate an understanding of how and why participants make certain choices when using a prototype or their overall assessment of the utility.…”

Development process and patient usability preferences for a touch screen tablet–based questionnaire

“…Although clinical use of patient e-questionnaires is growing rapidly, 32 there are few prior reports of systematic questionnaire development processes and limited data on patient usability preferences for touch screen questionnaires. 15 Our rapid-cycle design approach enabled us to achieve a summative SUS score of 84.2. This score was well above the reported mean of 68 across web-based systems and corresponds to a subjective usability rating of "excellent" and percentile rank of 95 percent (i.e.…”

“…Although a previous study did not demonstrate usability constraints in patients with arthritis, others have also suggested that certain patients prefer a stylus for touch screen questionnaires, and this option should be made available to any user. 15,38 Participants also indicated that functions such as accessing the device keyboard and swiping to advance the screen might not be intuitive to all users ("familiarity with touch screen technology"). Accordingly, we added simple instructions regarding these features on the home screen.…”

“…43,48 It is also of note that, although paper questionnaires can offer some of these advantages, electronic questionnaires have been found to be more efficient, potentially less expensive over the long term, less prone to missing data and erroneous data entry, and perceived more favorably by patients across age groups. 1,13,15,38,[49][50][51] The overall implication of our study is that by addressing patient preferences, it is feasible to design a highly usable touch tablet questionnaire for collection of data in the clinical waiting room. Specifically, developers should consider provision of antimicrobial wipes; availability of a stylus; provision of basic written instructions on how to type into and navigate through the questionnaire; use of bolding for emphasis and large image and font sizes (at least 11 or 12 points); and use features such as radio buttons, check boxes, and explanatory information in a hover dialogue for unintuitive terms and icons.…”