Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jul 13, 2018
Open Peer Review Period: Jul 18, 2018 - Aug 30, 2018
Date Accepted: Feb 11, 2019
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Usability of health information websites designed for adolescents: A systematic review, neurodevelopmental model and design brief
ABSTRACT
Background:
Adolescence is a unique developmental period characterised by biological, social and cognitive changes, as well as an interest in managing one’s own healthcare. Many adolescents use the internet to seek healthcare information. However, young people face many barriers before they can understand and apply the health information that they access online. It is essential that usability of adolescent health-related websites on the internet are improved to help adolescents overcome these barriers and allow them to engage successfully with online healthcare content.
Objective:
The current review synthesised the usability of specific health information websites that had been designed for adolescents, based on adolescent preferences for website features.
Methods:
A systematic search conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO and ERIC identified 21 studies that assessed usability of health information websites. Participant feedback was collected by a mixture of surveys, focus groups, interviews and think-aloud procedures.
Results:
A majority of the information websites were developed for specific health issues, while the remaining websites provided information about general health topics that may be relevant to adolescents. Website features that were the most preferred by adolescents included interactive content such as games and quizzes, as well as videos, images, animations and graphics. Participants also preferred communicating with other adolescents with similar conditions, or learning about their experiences through real stories and testimonials. Adolescents found it difficult to use health information websites if they had too much text, were too cluttered or had features that made it difficult to access.
Conclusions:
Adolescents’ feedback can determine usability and content that make a health information website easy or informative to use. Neurodevelopmental profiles and the users’ specific preferences and skills should be addressed in future development of health information websites for adolescents.
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.