Development of a smartphone application for Korean patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Self-monitoring based action plans.

AIM

The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a smartphone application (app) of a COPD action plan (AP) based on symptom self-monitoring (SM) [AP-SM Sapp] to support the early detection of, and response to, symptoms.

BACKGROUND

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most prevalent respiratory diseases worldwide. Disease control is important to prevent progression of COPD caused by exacerbations; action plans are a successful strategy to prevent and manage COPD exacerbations. However, the digital literacy that COPD patients need to support technology-based COPD action plans is poorly understood.

METHODS

A systematic literature review identified components for the app's development. Content validity testing with 12 clinical experts identified 35 critical components for inclusion in the app's development. The app was then submitted to user experience evaluation by thirteen technology experts and nine COPD patients.

RESULTS

In user evaluation of the app, experts evaluated the AP-SM Sapp as a good quality app (57.37 ± 9.13) and COPD patients as an average quality app (44.44 ± 3.94) (range 0-69; higher scores indicating greater endorsement of app quality). Revisions based on these critiques produced a final version.

CONCLUSION

The app was developed to support COPD patients in the early detection of symptoms so that exacerbations could be prevented or managed appropriately. Although the app used simple messages and pictographs to enhance digital literacy (thus narrowing the digital literacy gap), efficient onboarding will be important if barriers to app use are to be further reduced.