Usability of a Mobile Application for Patients Rehabilitating in their Community

Abstract

Background: A potential factor in adherence to use of mobile technologies is usability, yet this is rarely examined.Aims: This article examines the usability of a mobile application ("mCare"), provided to support injured Service Members rehabilitating in their communities, and assesses how usability ratings related to the users' background characteristics and usage of mCare.Methods: Data were from the intervention arm (n=95) of a 36-week, randomized controlled trial. Usability was measured with the System Usability Scale (SUS) (n=41) and semi-structured interviews (n=49). The analysis compared SUS scores by cohort characteristics, with t-tests and ANOVA. Interview responses were coded for valence. Pearson correlations quantified the association between SUS scores and usage.Results: Mean total SUS score was 78.0 [standard deviation (SD) = 21.1; ' A'], usability sub-score was 76.7 (SD = 22.9; ' A'), and learnability sub-score was 82.0 (SD = 25.0; ' A+'). SUS scores differed by mobile device type (p = 0.07) and living arrangement (p = 0.06). Participants with behavioral health problems, of older age, were Warrant Officers, and/or had a specific wireless carrier rated mCare lower, though these findings were not statistically significant. Interview responses provided insight into why SUS scores might have been lower in some cases. Higher usage was associated with higher total SUS scores (r = 0.46, p = 0.004). Conclusion:Overall, mCare was rated favorably. Higher usage was correlated with higher usability scores. Providers planning to use mCare with patients should consider patient's characteristics (e.g., type of mobile phone, living arrangement), as these could affect user experience.

Evaluating the Usability of the Expanded Telerehabilitation Program Implemented by Philippine General Hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study

“…The combined sample size for patients and caregivers was 109, while the sample size for the Rehabilitation Medicine staff was 28. The computations were based on the following: average weekly teleconsultations (i.e., [10][11][12][13][14][15]; the number of residents manning the telerehabilitation service (i.e., 3-4/ month); the number of paramedical staff (i.e., PT, OT, SLP, Psychologists) operating the telerehabilitation service (i.e., 10-12/month).…”

“…A study by Little and colleagues in 2017 utilized the System Usability Scale (SUS) to evaluate the usability of a mobile application to support patients rehabilitating in the community. 15 The SUS is a quick and easy yet reliable, valid, and freely available tool that has become an industry standard in evaluating technology-related products and services, including hardware, software, mobile devices, and websites the past 25 years. 10,[16][17][18][19] The scale has also been used for telemedicine programs, including telerehabilitation services.…”

Mobile Applications to Improve Emotional Intelligence in Autism – A Review

“…Mobile applications have made major changes in many areas of human life such us health [32][33][34][35][36][37]. They provide the opportunity and have promised to help people change social behavior [38][39][40], enrich education [41][42][43] and promote well-being [44][45][46].…”

Measuring usability and purchase intention for online travel booking: A case study

“…Franco et al have completed the recent study of the use of system usability scale questionnaire for evaluating a web-based graphical food frequency assessment system [14]. Little et al, on the other hand, gathered feedback about a mobile application for patients rehabilitating [15]. Furthermore, Dexheimer et al evaluated the usability of Self-Monitoring Activity-Restriction and Relaxation Treatment (SMART) application for youth with morbidity associated with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) [16], while Noprisson et al dealt with evaluating the m-Government application [17].…”