scholarly journals Human-Centered Design of Mobile Health Applications for Older Adults: Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis (Preprint)

10.2196/29512 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zethapong Nimmanterdwong ◽  
Suchaya Boonviriya ◽  
Pisit Tangkijvanich
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Narrative Synthesis ◽  
Human Centered Design ◽  
Mobile Health Applications ◽  
Health Applications

Human-Centred Design of Mobile Health Applications for Older Adults: Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zethapong Nimmanterdwong ◽  
Suchaya Boonviriya ◽  
Pisit Tangkijvanich
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Narrative Synthesis ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Rigorous Research ◽  
Mobile Health Applications ◽  
Human Centred Design

BACKGROUND The world is ageing. The number of older patients rises, and along with it comes the burden of non-communicable diseases both clinical and economic. Attempts with mobile health (mHealth) have been made to remedy the situation with promising outcomes. Researchers have adopted human-centred design (HCD) in mHealth creation to ensure those promises become reality. OBJECTIVE The aim of this systematic review is to explore existing literature to address how human-centred design should be used to create highly usable mHealth applications. METHODS A systematic review was conducted to seek studies of mHealth interventions aimed at older adults with their HCD process explained from the following databases: IEEE Xplore, MEDLINE via Ovid, PubMed, and Scopus. Two independent reviewers then assessed their eligibility: they must be written in English, include participants older than 60 years old, and report about mHealth applications and their HCD development from start to finish. The 2 reviewers continued to assess the included studies’ qualities using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tools (MMAT). A narrative synthesis was then carried out and completed. RESULTS Eight studies passed the eligibility criteria: 5 were mixed methods studies, and 3 were case studies. Some studies were about the same mHealth projects with the total of 5 mHealth applications. The included studies differed in HCD goals, target groups, and details of their HCD methodologies. The HCD process was thematically explored in 4 steps through narrative synthesis according to International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) 9241-210: (1) understand and specify the context of use, (2) specify the user requirements, (3) produce design solutions to meet these requirements, and (4) evaluate the designs against requirements. CONCLUSIONS Challenges and recommendations are summarised logically with structural order and time order based on Minto’s pyramid principle and ISO 9241-210. Findings show that existing literature in the subfield of HCD and mHealth for older adults is still limited. The quality of most included studies is also deemed inadequate as appraised by MMAT. The details of the sampling method are lacking. Also, objective and quantifiable goals of the system are not set, leading to failure in drawing a significant conclusion. More studies of HCD application on mHealth with measurable design goals and rigorous research strategy are warranted.

The Functionality, Quality and Consistency with International Guidelines of Asthma Mobile Health Applications: Protocol for a Systematic Review. (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Billy Robinson ◽  
Enying Gong ◽  
Brian Oldenburg ◽  
Katharine See
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Airflow Limitation ◽  
Significant Variable ◽  
Assessment Framework ◽  
Mobile Health Applications ◽  
Gina Guidelines ◽  
Mhealth Apps ◽  
Health Applications

BACKGROUND Asthma is a chronic respiratory disorder defined clinically as a combination of typical respiratory symptoms, and significant variable reversible airflow limitation. In addition to pharmacotherapy, a key aspect of asthma management is empowering patients to manage their condition and recognise and respond to asthma exacerbations. Mobile health applications (mHealth apps) represent a potential medium through which patients could improve the ability to self-manage their asthma. Few studies have conducted a systematic evaluation of both free and paid asthma mobile applications for the quality and functionality of the apps using a validated tool and to our knowledge none have systematically assessed these applications for the quality of information that they provide compared to available international best practice guidelines. This represents the first study that will undertake both of these evaluations for all available mHealth Apps in Australia targeted towards adult asthmatics. The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines represent a regularly updated guideline based on reviews of the available scientific literature by an international panel of experts. This review will examine the functionality and quality of available asthma mobile health applications and the consistency of these available applications with recommendations from the GINA guidelines. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to conduct a systematic review of adult-targeted asthma mobile health applications on the Australian market. As part of this review the potential for an mHealth app to improve asthma self-management and the overall quality of the application will be evaluated, using the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) framework, and the quality of the information within an app, using the current GINA guidelines as a reference, will be assessed. METHODS A methodological stepwise approach was taken in creating this review. First the most recent GINA guidelines were independently reviewed by two authors to identify key recommendations that could feasibly be incorporated into a mHealth app. These identified recommendations were then compared to a previously developed asthma application assessment framework. A modified assessment framework was created, ensuring all of these identified recommendations were included. Two popular App stores were then reviewed to identify potential mHealth Apps and then a screening process based on pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria occurred to establish what mHealth Apps would be evaluated. Application evaluation then occurred. Technical information was obtained from publicly available information on the application store or within the app itself. The next step was to perform an application quality assessment using the validated MARS framework to objectively determine the quality of the application. Application functionality was then assessed using the IMS Institute for Health Informatics Functionality Scoring system. Finally, the mHealth applications will be assessed using a checklist that we have developed based on what was identified from the international GINA guidelines. RESULTS To date, funding has been received for the project from the Respiratory Department at Northern Health, Victoria. Three reviewers have been recruited to systematically evaluate the applications. Results for this study are expected by the end of this year. CONCLUSIONS Nil as protocol CLINICALTRIAL PROSPERO 269894

scholarly journals Relationships between the Older Adult’s Cognitive Decline and Quality of Life: The Mediating Role of the Assistive Mobile Health Applications

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Murtaja Ali Saare ◽  
Azham Hussain ◽  
Wong Seng Yue
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Decline ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Mobile Health Applications ◽  
Conceptual Explanation ◽  
Health Applications

This article examines the link between the older adult’s cognitive decline, and Assistive Mobile Health Applications in terms of quality of life as researcher has found scarcity in explaining the mediating role of assistive mobile health applications towards the quality of life of older adults with cognitive decline. Researchers have identified the importance of using assistive mobile health applications in connection of the older adult’s cognitive decline. However, it remained unaddressed in the explaining the mediating role of assistive mobile health application. Therefore, this paper aims to provide an insight that the adoption of assistive m-health applications will provide this population with potential solution to their challenging aging life, hence, enhancing their quality of life. In addition, this paper is only a conceptual explanation, as it aims to identify the possible reasons that influence their Smartphone adoption. Factors were identified using a systematic literature review on relevant peer reviewed papers. The study summarized the empirical evidences which were used to support the conceptual explanation. It is expected that this work will lead towards the empirical findings on the explanation of the mediating role of the assistive mobile health applications to address the relationship of older adult’s cognitive decline and quality of life. This paper providesdirections for future studies in improving the quality of life of older adults.

scholarly journals Patient Self-Management of Asthma Using Mobile Health Applications: A Systematic Review of the Functionalities and Effects

2017 ◽  
Vol 08 (04) ◽  
pp. 1068-1081 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehrdad Farzandipour ◽  
Ehsan Nabovati ◽  
Reihane Sharif ◽  
Marzieh Arani ◽  
Shima Anvari
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Cochrane Central Register ◽  
Patient Reported ◽  
Mobile Health Applications ◽  
Mhealth Apps ◽  
Health Applications

Objective The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence regarding the effects of mobile health applications (mHealth apps) for self-management outcomes in patients with asthma and to assess the functionalities of effective interventions. Methods We systematically searched Medline, Scopus, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. We included English-language studies that evaluated the effects of smartphone or tablet computer apps on self-management outcomes in asthmatic patients. The characteristics of these studies, effects of interventions, and features of mHealth apps were extracted. Results A total of 10 studies met all the inclusion criteria. Outcomes that were assessed in the included studies were categorized into three groups (clinical, patient-reported, and economic). mHealth apps improved asthma control (five studies) and lung function (two studies) from the clinical outcomes. From the patient-reported outcomes, quality of life (three studies) was statistically significantly improved, while there was no significant impact on self-efficacy scores (two studies). Effects on economic outcomes were equivocal, so that the number of visits (in two studies) and admission and hospitalization-relevant outcomes (in one study) statistically significantly improved; and in four other studies, these outcomes did not improve significantly. mHealth apps features were categorized into seven categories (inform, instruct, record, display, guide, remind/alert, and communicate). Eight of the 10 mHealth apps included more than one functionality. Nearly all interventions had the functionality of recording user-entered data and half of them had the functionality of providing educational information and reminders to patients. Conclusion Multifunctional mHealth apps have good potential in the control of asthma and in improving the quality of life in such patients compared with traditional interventions. Further studies are needed to identify the effectiveness of these interventions on outcomes related to medication adherence and costs.

scholarly journals Using Mobile Applications to Increase Physical Activity: A Systematic Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (21) ◽  
pp. 8238
Author(s):  
Laura Pradal-Cano ◽  
Carolina Lozano-Ruiz ◽  
José Juan Pereyra-Rodríguez ◽  
Francesc Saigí-Rubió ◽  
Anna Bach-Faig ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Dietary Behaviour ◽  
Cochrane Library ◽  
Full Text Review ◽  
Mobile Health Applications ◽  
Bibliographic Search ◽  
Health Applications

Unhealthy diet and physical inactivity—major risk factors for the main non-communicable diseases—can be addressed by mobile health applications. Using an evidence-based systematic review design, we analysed studies on mobile applications to foster physical activity to determine whether they met the objective of increasing adults’ physical activity. A bibliographic search was conducted in October 2020 using PubMed, Cochrane Library Plus, Biomed Central, Psychology Database, and SpringerLink, retrieving 191 articles. After titles and abstracts were reviewed, 149 articles were excluded, leaving 42 articles for a full-text review, of which 14 met the inclusion criteria. Despite differences in study duration, design, and variables, 13 of the 14 studies reported that applications were effective in increasing physical activity and healthy habits as dietary behaviour. However, further longer-term studies with larger samples are needed to confirm the effectiveness of mobile health applications in increasing physical activity.

scholarly journals Design Considerations for Mobile Health Applications Targeting Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Clara Li ◽  
Judith Neugroschl ◽  
Carolyn W. Zhu ◽  
Amy Aloysi ◽  
Corbett A. Schimming ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Design Considerations ◽  
Aging Populations ◽  
Mobile Health Applications ◽  
Health Applications

Mobile technologies are becoming ubiquitous in the world, changing the way we communicate and provide patient care and services. Some of the most compelling benefits of mobile technologies are in the areas of disease prevention, health management, and care delivery. For all the advances that are occurring in mobile health, its full potential for older adults is only starting to emerge. Yet, existing mobile health applications have design flaws that may limit usability by older adults. The aim of this paper is to review barriers and identify knowledge gaps where more research is needed to improve the accessibility of mobile health use in aging populations. The same observations might apply to those who are not elderly, including individuals suffering from severe mental or medical illnesses.

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