Fakolade Afolasade, Cardwell Katherine L, Chow Emma, Ross-White Amanda, Pilutti Lara A
School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Providence Care Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Digit Health. 2025 Aug 11;11:20552076251365141. doi: 10.1177/20552076251365141. eCollection 2025 Jan-Dec.
To examine usability characteristics/attributes and evaluation methods incorporated in the design and/or evaluation of computer-based digital technologies for caregivers of people with chronic progressive conditions.
We searched Medline (OVID), PsycINFO (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCO), and Web of Science Core Collection to identify relevant studies published from 2012 to May 2024. Two reviewers screened studies for eligibility, and extracted and synthesized data.
Across 71 included studies, sample sizes ranged between 5 and 127. Most participants were caregivers of people with dementia ( = 52, 73.2%). There was a mix of caregiving relationships across the 55 studies (77.5%) reporting this variable, with spouses most frequently included ( = 51, 92.7%). Samples were predominantly female (72.1%), with mean ages between 43.0 and 76.7 years old. Most technologies were Website/Internet-based ( = 43, 60.6%). Across the studies, we identified 31 distinct usability characteristics/attributes, with more than half of the studies ( = 45, 63.4%) including at least three characteristics/attributes. However, nearly half of the studies ( = 32, 45.1%) used a single usability evaluation method, predominantly inquiry-based interviews ( = 15, 21.1%).
Findings reflect a narrow focus on middle-aged, female, and spousal caregivers, limiting the utility of digital health technologies for more diverse groups of caregivers. In addition to commonly used inquiry-based usability evaluation methods, user-testing, heuristic evaluation, and analytic modelling may offer more adaptive and holistic approaches to address a wider range of digital technologies.
研究针对患有慢性进行性疾病患者的照护者所设计的基于计算机的数字技术在设计和/或评估中所包含的可用性特征/属性及评估方法。
我们检索了Medline（OVID）、PsycINFO（Ovid）、CINAHL（EBSCO）和Web of Science核心合集，以识别2012年至2024年5月发表的相关研究。两名评审员筛选研究的合格性，并提取和综合数据。
在纳入的71项研究中，样本量在5至127之间。大多数参与者是痴呆症患者的照护者（n = 52，73.2%）。在报告该变量的55项研究（77.5%）中，照护关系多种多样，其中配偶最常被纳入（n = 51，92.7%）。样本主要为女性（72.1%），平均年龄在43.0至76.7岁之间。大多数技术是基于网站/互联网的（n = 43，60.6%）。在这些研究中，我们识别出31种不同的可用性特征/属性，超过一半的研究（n = 45，63.4%）包含至少三种特征/属性。然而，近一半的研究（n = 32，45.1%）使用单一的可用性评估方法，主要是基于询问的访谈（n = 15，21.1%）。
研究结果反映出对中年、女性和配偶照护者的关注较为狭窄，限制了数字健康技术对更多样化照护者群体的效用。除了常用的基于询问的可用性评估方法外，用户测试、启发式评估和分析建模可能提供更具适应性和整体性的方法，以应对更广泛的数字技术。
