Preferred Features in Mobile Health Applications for Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Qualitative Approach
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Date
2020-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Despite the increasing number of consumer-based mobile health applications (mHealth apps) for self-care, there is little research exploring consumers' experiences with mHealth apps. Health apps using mobile technology have the potential to provide a platform for kidney transplant recipients to monitor their self-care in real-time. The purpose of this study was to (a) explore kidney transplant recipient's (KTRs') perceptions of the usefulness of mHealth apps, and (b) identify features that KTRs believe are important for using mHealth apps. A qualitative design was used to explore a purposive sample of adult KTRs from a Midwest Transplant Program who used a mHealth app. A trained research assistant conducted face-to-face interviews using a semi-structured interview guide to elicit perspectives on preferences and features of mHealth apps. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded using the NVivo 12.0 qualitative software. The sample consisted of N = 20 participants with a mean age of 54 (SD = 14.8). The majority of participants were white females (60%) with an associate's degree or higher who earned an average annual income of $66,000 per year or higher. Qualitative content data analysis revealed three themes that participants found useful: health tracking (medication, nutrition, fluid intake, lab values, and activity), feedback (short personalized messages, positive awards using symbols, and color-coded bar graphs indicating normal and abnormal ranges), and usability (large font, words that everyone can understand, and all information stored in one area). Seventy-eight percent of participants were excluded from the study because they did not use an mHealth app. Future studies should consider how to include participants that do not use an mHealth app.
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Keywords
Kidney transplant recipient, mobile health application, self-care