Lee V Vien, Vijayakumar Smrithi, Lau Ni Yin, Blasiak Agata, Siah Kewin Tien Ho, Ho Dean
The N.1 Institute for Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Digit Health. 2022 May 29;8:20552076221104673. doi: 10.1177/20552076221104673. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.
Chronic constipation is a prevalent gastrointestinal disorder that requires long-term management and treatment adherence. With increasing smartphone usage, health app adoption represents an opportunity to incorporate personalized, patient-led care into chronic constipation management. Despite the number of apps available targeting patients with constipation, studies have not yet examined user needs and barriers towards successful app adoption and sustained usage. Accordingly, the current study explored user perception, needs, and concerns of health apps in patients with chronic constipation.
Fifteen participants with chronic constipation (age range = 28-79 years, 10 females) in Singapore completed a 60 min semi-structured qualitative interview exploring participant's experiences with and attitudes towards chronic constipation and health apps. Participants also completed two questionnaires regarding their constipation symptoms and general technology usage. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded using NVivo.
Four themes and 10 sub-themes were identified using inductive thematic analysis. Themes and sub-themes cover importance of patient identity, disease-based expectations of health apps, barriers towards adoption and sustained usage of health apps, necessary conditions when adopting health apps (including perception of supportive benefits, clear understanding of app intention, personalized technology, and trusted sources), and push factor expectations which includes creative engagement and incentivization embedded within the app.
The findings captured barriers and key elements necessary for successful health app adoption and continued usage by patients with chronic constipation. Identified elements that matter to patients can provide app developers with user-focused insights and recommendations to develop effective health apps that sustain user engagement.
慢性便秘是一种常见的胃肠道疾病，需要长期管理和坚持治疗。随着智能手机使用的增加，采用健康应用程序为将个性化、患者主导的护理纳入慢性便秘管理提供了契机。尽管有许多针对便秘患者的应用程序，但尚未有研究调查用户需求以及成功采用和持续使用应用程序的障碍。因此，本研究探讨了慢性便秘患者对健康应用程序的认知、需求和担忧。
新加坡15名慢性便秘患者（年龄范围=28-79岁，10名女性）完成了一次60分钟的半结构化定性访谈，探讨参与者对慢性便秘和健康应用程序的体验及态度。参与者还完成了两份关于便秘症状和一般技术使用情况的问卷。访谈进行了录音，逐字转录，并使用NVivo进行编码。
通过归纳主题分析确定了四个主题和10个子主题。主题和子主题涵盖患者身份的重要性、基于疾病对健康应用程序的期望、采用和持续使用健康应用程序的障碍、采用健康应用程序时的必要条件（包括对支持性益处的认知、对应用程序意图的清晰理解、个性化技术和可靠来源），以及推动因素期望，其中包括应用程序中嵌入的创意参与和激励措施。
研究结果揭示了慢性便秘患者成功采用和持续使用健康应用程序所需的障碍和关键要素。确定对患者重要的要素可为应用程序开发者提供以用户为中心的见解和建议，以开发能持续吸引用户的有效健康应用程序。
