Li Danyu, Zhu Yanlin, Yuan Changrong, Huang Qingmei, Yang Yang, Geng Zhaohui, Yuan Xiaotong, Wu Fulei
School of Nursing, Fudan University, 305 Fenglin Road, Shanghai, 200032, China.
Department of Nursing, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.
JMIR Hum Factors. 2025 Aug 26;12:e71448. doi: 10.2196/71448.
Mobile health (mHealth) for breast cancer care can greatly benefit patients' symptom management. Although research supports the effectiveness of mHealth, older adult patients with breast cancer often face difficulties using it, hindering them from accessing effective symptom management possibilities. Understanding the preference for mHealth among this population is crucial for providing insights into effective mHealth design.
This study aimed to better understand the symptom management preference using mHealth for Chinese older adult patients with breast cancer and use the approach of personas to inform the mHealth design.
This was a descriptive qualitative study. In total, 17 patients with breast cancer aged 60 years and older were recruited from tertiary hospitals in Shanghai, China, using purposive sampling. Data were collected through one-on-one interviews. Content analysis was used to identify the factors that influence participants' symptom management preference using mHealth. The categories of influencing factors of preference informed the persona template and guided the development of the persona.
We identified 3 major categories affecting participants' preference for mHealth, including social interaction patterns, mHealth literacy, and symptoms. The following five personas were developed: (1) Positive Manager, (2) Dependent Parent, (3) Management Isolationist, (4) Image Manager, and (5) Clinician Dependent. We provide insights into how these personas can be used when designing and implementing mHealth for symptom management support.
Key factors influencing symptom management preference using mHealth among Chinese older adult patients with breast cancer and personas developed based on that can foster a better understanding of this population and initiate future mHealth design and implementation.
用于乳腺癌护理的移动健康（mHealth）可极大地有益于患者的症状管理。尽管研究支持mHealth的有效性，但老年乳腺癌患者在使用它时常常面临困难，这阻碍了他们获得有效的症状管理可能性。了解这一人群对mHealth的偏好对于为有效的mHealth设计提供见解至关重要。
本研究旨在更好地了解中国老年乳腺癌患者使用mHealth进行症状管理的偏好，并使用人物角色方法为mHealth设计提供信息。
这是一项描述性定性研究。采用目的抽样法，从中国上海的三级医院招募了总共17名60岁及以上的乳腺癌患者。通过一对一访谈收集数据。采用内容分析法确定影响参与者使用mHealth进行症状管理偏好的因素。偏好的影响因素类别为人物角色模板提供了信息，并指导了人物角色的开发。
我们确定了影响参与者对mHealth偏好的3个主要类别，包括社交互动模式、mHealth素养和症状。开发了以下五个人物角色：（1）积极管理者，（2）依赖型父母，（3）管理孤立者，（4）形象管理者，（5）依赖临床医生者。我们提供了关于在设计和实施用于症状管理支持的mHealth时如何使用这些人物角色的见解。
影响中国老年乳腺癌患者使用mHealth进行症状管理偏好的关键因素以及基于此开发的人物角色有助于更好地了解这一人群，并启动未来的mHealth设计和实施。
