JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of racial and ethnic minorities to poor health outcomes. The Hispanic/Latino population was particularly impacted by increased incidence, disease severity, and mortality rates. Lack of access to healthcare and resources, poor housing conditions, and economic vulnerability are some of the social determinants that make this group vulnerable. Therefore, we co-developed a mobile healthcare app, Cuidando Tu Bienestar (CTB), to track symptoms and identify severe disease, provide patient education, and connect community members with health resources and social services with the goal of reducing COVID-related morbidity and mortality in this population. CTB implements COVID-19 symptom monitoring through daily “check-ins” by participants, provides informational links to local resources, and facilitates communication with CTB staff.

Objective:

The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility and acceptability of CTB.

Methods:

CTB was evaluated in a pre-post pilot trial among 17 adults who had tested positive for COVID-19 within one healthcare system. Participants were asked to complete a baseline survey, use CTB for 14 days, and complete a 2-week follow-up survey. Surveys included COVID-19 knowledge checks, health status and CTB usability (Systems Usability Scale, SUS). Survey responses and app use information were used to assess the initial feasibility and acceptability of CTB.

Results:

Participants were on average 27.8 years old (SD: 8.9 years) and 76.5% were female. The mean number of check-ins per participant was 10.5 (SD: 4.3). The most commonly reported symptoms within CTB were headaches, loss of smell, and fatigue. The CTB app was able to detect warning signs or symptoms of severe disease in 88.2% of participants, among whom 47.1% required emergency evaluation at a hospital or clinic. CTB identified 10 participants (58.8%) who needed referrals for local assistance programs or social services. Overall, satisfaction with CTB was high. The mean SUS score was 91.5 (SD: 9.63).

Conclusions:

Our findings indicate that the CTB mobile application appears to be useful in monitoring symptoms, detecting warning signs, and connecting patients to necessary local health and social resources while being easy to navigate. Future research is needed to determine the applicability of CTB on both endemic and emerging respiratory infections (such as, seasonal and novel influenza, respectively) and to determine how CTB may impact both disease outcomes and patient quality of life in a randomized clinical trial.