The Influence of Computer Experience and Screen Size on Use Performance and Perceptions of a Tablet-Based Chronic Illness Self-Management System for Older Adults

Abstract

A usability study of a tablet-based chronic illness self-management system was conducted to evaluate the system's usability and to examine the effects of screen size and computer experience on use performance and perceptions of the system. A two-factor, between-subjects design was implemented, in which 40 older adults aged from 55 to 88 years were equally assigned to two screen size groups and required to perform a set of self-management tasks. The results showed that screen size had no effect on either the use performance or perceptions of the system, and that computer experience had significant effects on the former but no effect on the latter. Older adults without computer experience tended to perceive the large tablet screen system as more useful. This study verified the usability of the tablet-based self-management system with older adults. Its findings suggest the need to determine an optimal screen size for consumer health information technologies, and highlight the importance of computer experience in usability studies. Future studies may address its limitations.

VA eScreening program: Technology to improve care for post-9/11 veterans.

“…The relatively young age of the veterans in this sample and their presumed familiarity with technology may have contributed to the acceptability of the technology (Hjermstad et al, 2012; Ybarra & Suman, 2008). However, age may only partially explain this acceptability as some research suggests that older adults are also open to using technology in screening (Fanning & McAuley, 2014; Tao, Or, & Li, 2014).…”

A 12-week pilot study of acceptance of a computer-based chronic disease self-monitoring system among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and/or hypertension

“…The system comprised a 10-inch touchscreen tablet computer, a two-in-one blood pressure and blood glucose meter, and a cable connecting the computer and the two-in-one device. A chronic disease self-monitoring application, which was developed based on a series of usability evaluations guided by human factors approaches, consultation with healthcare practitioners, and feedback from intended target users, 49–51 was programmed to run on the tablet computer. The self-monitoring system could be used by patients to measure and keep track of their blood glucose, blood pressure, and heart rate.…”

A 3-Month Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial of a Patient-Centered, Computer-Based Self-Monitoring System for the Care of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension

“…It was an interactive system that was developed on the basis of human factors approaches and feedback from patients with chronic diseases [2,13]. The system was equipped with a 10-inch tablet computer and a 2-in-1 blood glucose and blood pressure monitor that enabled patients to measure, automatically record, and monitor their blood glucose, blood pressure, and pulse.…”

“…In addition, many recent CHIT applications are based on advanced information and communication technologies in general or mobile technologies in particular (e.g., smartphones and tablet computers) due to their low cost, high portability, high accessibility, and ease of implementation [10][11][12]. To this end, our research team developed a tablet-based self-monitoring system according to human factors design methods and principles in an attempt to make the system usable and useful [2,13]. In this paper, we report on a randomized controlled pilot trial of the system that evaluated whether the outcomes of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and/or hypertension who performed tablet-based self-monitoring would improve compared to those of patients who performed conventional disease selfmonitoring.…”