Ibarra-Noriega Ana M, Yansane Alfa, Mullins Joanna, Simmons Kristen, Skourtes Nicholas, Holmes David, White Joel, Kalenderian Elsbeth, Walji Muhammad F
Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77054, United States.
Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, United States.
JAMIA Open. 2024 Mar 11;7(1):ooae018. doi: 10.1093/jamiaopen/ooae018. eCollection 2024 Apr.
The use of interactive mobile health (mHealth) applications to monitor patient-reported postoperative pain outcomes is an emerging area in dentistry that requires further exploration. This study aimed to evaluate and improve the usability of an existing mHealth application.
The usability of the application was assessed iteratively using a 3-phase approach, including a rapid cognitive walkthrough (Phase I), lab-based usability testing (Phase II), and pilot testing (Phase III). The study team conducted Phase I, while providers and patients participated in Phase II and III.
The rapid cognitive walkthrough identified 23 potential issues that could negatively impact user experience, with the majority classified as system issues. The lab-based usability testing yielded 141 usability issues.; 43% encountered by patients and 57% by dentists. Usability problems encountered during pilot testing included undelivered messages due to mobile phone carrier and service-related issues, errors in patients' phone number data entry, and problems in provider training.
Through collaborative and iterative work with the vendor, usability issues were addressed before launching a trial to assess its efficacy.
The usability of the mHealth application for postoperative dental pain was remarkably improved by the iterative analysis and interdisciplinary collaboration.
使用交互式移动健康（mHealth）应用程序来监测患者报告的术后疼痛结果是牙科领域一个新兴的需要进一步探索的领域。本研究旨在评估并改善一款现有mHealth应用程序的可用性。
采用三阶段方法对该应用程序的可用性进行迭代评估，包括快速认知走查（第一阶段）、基于实验室的可用性测试（第二阶段）和试点测试（第三阶段）。研究团队开展第一阶段，而医护人员和患者参与第二阶段和第三阶段。
快速认知走查识别出23个可能对用户体验产生负面影响的潜在问题，其中大部分归类为系统问题。基于实验室的可用性测试产生了141个可用性问题，患者遇到的占43%，牙医遇到的占57%。试点测试期间遇到的可用性问题包括因手机运营商和服务相关问题导致的消息未送达、患者电话号码数据录入错误以及医护人员培训方面的问题。
通过与供应商的协作和迭代工作，在开展评估其疗效的试验之前解决了可用性问题。
通过迭代分析和跨学科协作，用于牙科术后疼痛的mHealth应用程序的可用性得到了显著改善。
