Fowler Lauren A, Yingling Leah R, Brooks Alyssa T, Wallen Gwenyth R, Peters-Lawrence Marlene, McClurkin Michael, Wiley Kenneth L, Mitchell Valerie M, Johnson Twanda D, Curry Kendrick E, Johnson Allan A, Graham Avis P, Graham Lennox A, Powell-Wiley Tiffany M
Cardiovascular Branch, Division of Intramural Research, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States.
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2018 Jul 17;6(7):e160. doi: 10.2196/mhealth.9729.
A pressing need exists to understand and optimize the use of dietary assessment tools that can be used in community-based participatory research (CBPR) interventions. A digital food record, which uses a mobile device to capture the dietary intake through text and photography inputs, is a particularly promising mobile assessment method. However, little is understood about the acceptability and feasibility of digital food records in CBPR and how to best tailor dietary assessment tools to the needs of a community.
The objective of our study was to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of digital food records among church-based populations in resource-limited wards of Washington, DC, USA, using a mixed-methods approach.
This community-based pilot study was conducted as part of the Washington, DC Cardiovascular Health and Needs Assessment. Participants (n=17) received a mobile device (iPod Touch) to photodocument their dietary intake for a 3-day digital food record using a mobile app, FitNinja (Vibrent Health). The acceptability of the digital food record was explored through the thematic analysis of verbatim transcripts from a moderated focus group (n=8). In addition, the feasibility was evaluated by the percentage of participants complying with instructions (ie, capturing both before and after meal photos for at least 2 meals/day for 3 days).
Qualitative themes identified were related to (1) the feasibility and acceptability of the mobile device and app, including issues in recording the dietary information and difficulty with photodocumentation; (2) suggestions for additional support and training experiences; and (3) comparisons with other mobile apps. Overall, the participants accepted the digital food record by demonstrating satisfaction with the tool and intent to continue the use (eg, participants recorded an average of 5.2, SD 7, consecutive days). Furthermore, of the 17 participants, 15 photodocumented at least 1 meal during the study period and 3 fully complied with the digital food record instructions.
This study demonstrated digital food records as an acceptable tool in CBPR and identified contributors and barriers to the feasibility of digital food records for future research. Engaging community members in the implementation of novel assessment methods allows for the tailoring of technology to the needs of the community and optimizing community-based interventions.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01927783; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01927783 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/70WzaFWb6).
迫切需要了解并优化可用于社区参与性研究（CBPR）干预措施的膳食评估工具的使用。数字食物记录是一种特别有前景的移动评估方法，它使用移动设备通过文本和照片输入来记录膳食摄入情况。然而，对于数字食物记录在CBPR中的可接受性和可行性，以及如何根据社区需求最佳地定制膳食评估工具，人们了解甚少。
我们研究的目的是采用混合方法评估美国华盛顿特区资源有限社区中基于教会人群对数字食物记录的可接受性和可行性。
这项基于社区的试点研究是华盛顿特区心血管健康与需求评估的一部分。参与者（n = 17）收到一部移动设备（iPod Touch），使用移动应用程序FitNinja（Vibrent Health）以照片记录他们3天的数字食物记录中的膳食摄入情况。通过对一个有主持人的焦点小组（n = 8）的逐字记录进行主题分析，探讨数字食物记录的可接受性。此外，通过参与者遵守指示的百分比（即连续3天每天至少拍摄2餐的餐前和餐后照片）来评估可行性。
确定的定性主题与以下方面有关：（1）移动设备和应用程序的可行性和可接受性，包括记录膳食信息的问题和拍照记录的困难；（2）对额外支持和培训体验的建议；（3）与其他移动应用程序的比较。总体而言，参与者通过对该工具表示满意并打算继续使用，接受了数字食物记录（例如，参与者平均连续记录了5.2天，标准差为7天）。此外，在17名参与者中，15人在研究期间至少拍摄了1餐的照片，3人完全遵守了数字食物记录的指示。
本研究表明数字食物记录是CBPR中一种可接受的工具，并确定了数字食物记录可行性的促成因素和障碍，以供未来研究参考。让社区成员参与新型评估方法的实施，可以使技术根据社区需求进行定制，并优化基于社区的干预措施。
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01927783；https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01927783（由WebCite存档于http://www.webcitation.org/70WzaFWb6）。
