Peng Wei, Yuan Shupei, Holtz Bree E
1 Department of Media and Information, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.
2 Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Michigan State University , East Lansing, Michigan.
Telemed J E Health. 2016 Sep;22(9):733-8. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2015.0180. Epub 2016 Mar 16.
Many adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D), living in rural communities, are not optimally managing the disease through their diet and physical activities. Mobile apps have the potential to facilitate self-management activities, such as providing educational content, assisting with problem solving, and self-regulation. The goal of this study was to understand the perceived barriers, benefits, and facilitators among rural adults with T2D regarding the use of free mobile apps available in Apple App store or Google Play store for diabetes management or behavior monitoring.
Four focus groups were conducted with 18 participants with T2D who owned a smartphone (age: M = 54.4, SD = 12.7; 27.8% male). The participants were asked about their general app and health-specific app usage. They were then shown features of four apps related to diabetes self-management (Glucose Buddy, mySugr, MyFitnessPal, and MapMyWalk) and prompted to provide feedback. The focus groups were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded using inductive thematic analysis.
Four themes were identified as follows: (1) perceived barriers to use or continuous use, (2) perceived benefits of desired features of diabetes self-management, (3) facilitators to motivate use, and (4) information sharing with family, friends, and health professionals.
The findings provide initial user perceptions regarding the feasibility and acceptability of mobile apps for T2D self-management. These findings regarding perceived barriers, benefits, and facilitators can guide the development and design of apps for individuals with T2D and help researchers determine best practices when developing apps for other chronic conditions.
许多生活在农村社区的成年2型糖尿病（T2D）患者并未通过饮食和体育活动对该疾病进行最佳管理。移动应用程序有潜力促进自我管理活动，例如提供教育内容、协助解决问题和自我调节。本研究的目的是了解农村成年T2D患者在使用苹果应用商店或谷歌应用商店中免费的糖尿病管理或行为监测移动应用程序方面所感知到的障碍、益处和促进因素。
对18名拥有智能手机的T2D参与者进行了四个焦点小组访谈（年龄：M = 54.4，标准差 = 12.7；男性占27.8%）。参与者被问及他们一般应用程序和特定健康应用程序的使用情况。然后向他们展示了四款与糖尿病自我管理相关的应用程序（Glucose Buddy、mySugr、MyFitnessPal和MapMyWalk）的功能，并促使他们提供反馈。焦点小组访谈进行了录音，逐字转录，并采用归纳主题分析法进行编码。
确定了四个主题，如下所示：（1）使用或持续使用的感知障碍，（2）糖尿病自我管理所需功能的感知益处，（3）促进使用的因素，以及（4）与家人、朋友和健康专业人员的信息共享。
研究结果提供了关于移动应用程序用于T2D自我管理的可行性和可接受性的初步用户认知。这些关于感知障碍、益处和促进因素的研究结果可以指导针对T2D患者的应用程序的开发和设计，并帮助研究人员在为其他慢性病开发应用程序时确定最佳实践。
