Amiri Parastoo, Gholipour Maryam, Hajesmaeel-Gohari Sadrieh, Bahaadinbeigy Kambiz
Student Research Committee, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Medical Informatics Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
J Caring Sci. 2023 May 20;12(2):129-135. doi: 10.34172/jcs.2023.30679. eCollection 2023 Jun.
Access to healthcare services for patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) was limited during the COVID-19 pandemic. A mobile application (app) can help overcome this limitation for patients and caregivers. Our study aims to develop and evaluate an app to help caregivers of patients with AD during COVID-19.
The study was performed in three steps. First, a questionnaire of features required for the app design was prepared based on the interviews with caregivers of AD patients and neurologists. Then, questionnaire was provided to neurologists, medical informatics, and health information management specialists to identify the final features. Second, the app was designed using the information obtained from the previous phase. Third, the quality of the app and the level of user satisfaction were evaluated using the mobile app rating scale (MARS) and the questionnaire for user interface satisfaction (QUIS), respectively.
The number of 41 data elements in four groups (patient's profile, COVID-19 management and control, AD management and control, and program functions) were identified for designing the app. The quality evaluation of the app based on MARS and user satisfaction evaluation based on QUIS showed the app was good.
This is the first study that focused on developing and evaluating a mobile app for assisting Alzheimer's caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the app was designed based on users' needs and covered both information about AD and COVID-19, it can help caregivers perform their tasks more efficiently.
在新冠疫情期间，阿尔茨海默病（AD）患者获得医疗服务的机会有限。移动应用程序（应用）可以帮助患者及其护理人员克服这一限制。我们的研究旨在开发并评估一款应用，以在新冠疫情期间帮助AD患者的护理人员。
该研究分三个步骤进行。首先，基于对AD患者护理人员和神经科医生的访谈，编制了一份应用程序设计所需功能的调查问卷。然后，将问卷提供给神经科医生、医学信息学和健康信息管理专家，以确定最终功能。其次，利用上一阶段获得的信息设计应用程序。第三，分别使用移动应用程序评分量表（MARS）和用户界面满意度调查问卷（QUIS）对应用程序的质量和用户满意度水平进行评估。
确定了四组（患者资料、新冠疫情管理与控制、AD管理与控制以及程序功能）中的41个数据元素用于应用程序设计。基于MARS的应用程序质量评估和基于QUIS的用户满意度评估表明该应用程序良好。
这是第一项专注于开发和评估一款在新冠疫情期间协助AD护理人员的移动应用程序的研究。由于该应用程序是根据用户需求设计的，涵盖了AD和新冠疫情的信息，它可以帮助护理人员更高效地完成任务。
