Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
BMC Cancer. 2024 Aug 8;24(1):973. doi: 10.1186/s12885-024-12744-2.
Self-management is the key to control breast cancer related lymphedema (BCRL). This study aimed to develop a mobile application with nurse support for lymphedema self-management and evaluate its usability from the patients' points of view.
This applied developmental study was conducted on 87 women in a lymphedema clinic, Shiraz, Iran, May-November 2023. The study included three phases: development, distribution of the application and usability evaluation. In the development phase, the researchers developed application using the Java programming language. In distribution phase, the application was installed on the participants' phones. For usability evaluation, 87 patients completed the user satisfaction questionnaire after three months access to the application. Data was analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics using SPSS software 22. P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant.
We designed a self-management application specific to BCRL that included ten unique modules mainly related to patient education, interaction with peers and nurse, self-management support, and settings. The application mean usability score was 7.72 ± 1.08. The usability dimensions of "screen" (8.06 ± 1.02) and "terminology and systems information" (7.29 ± 1.62) received the highest and lowest mean scores, respectively.
The application has new features to meet more patients' needs compared to what other existing lymphedema self-management applications already have addressed. The findings showed that the participants rated the application usability at the "good" level that is similar to some previous studies. Considering the unique nature of the application and its favorable usability, we recommend its use for BCRL self-management.
自我管理是控制乳腺癌相关淋巴水肿（BCRL）的关键。本研究旨在开发一款具有护士支持的移动应用程序，用于淋巴水肿的自我管理，并从患者的角度评估其可用性。
这是一项应用开发研究，于 2023 年 5 月至 11 月在伊朗设拉子的一家淋巴水肿诊所对 87 名女性进行。该研究包括三个阶段：开发阶段、应用程序的分发和可用性评估。在开发阶段，研究人员使用 Java 编程语言开发应用程序。在分发阶段，将应用程序安装在参与者的手机上。在可用性评估中，87 名患者在使用应用程序三个月后完成了用户满意度问卷。使用 SPSS 软件 22 进行描述性和分析性统计分析。P 值小于 0.05 被认为具有统计学意义。
我们设计了一种针对 BCRL 的自我管理应用程序，该应用程序包括十个独特的模块，主要涉及患者教育、与同行和护士的互动、自我管理支持和设置。应用程序的平均可用性评分为 7.72±1.08。“屏幕”（8.06±1.02）和“术语和系统信息”（7.29±1.62）的可用性维度分别获得了最高和最低的平均得分。
与其他现有的淋巴水肿自我管理应用程序相比，该应用程序具有新的功能，可以满足更多患者的需求。研究结果表明，参与者对应用程序的可用性评价为“良好”水平，与一些先前的研究相似。考虑到应用程序的独特性及其良好的可用性，我们建议将其用于 BCRL 的自我管理。
