JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The Dialysis Guide (DG) is a patient decision aid (PDA) in app format developed for smartphones for patients with chronic kidney disease facing the decision about dialysis modality.

Objective:

To uncover the applicability of the DG as a PDA.

Methods:

The respondents completed a questionnaire before and after using the DG. The respondents' decisional conflicts were examined using the Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS), and the usability was examined using the System Usability Scale (SUS). The change in decisional conflict was determined with a paired t-test.

Results:

22 respondents participated and the mean age was 65.05 years; 20 out of 22 (90%) had attended a patient school for kidney disease, and 13 out of 22 (59%) had participated in a conversation about dialysis choice with a health professional. After using the DG, the respondents' decisional conflicts were reduced, though not statistically significantly (P=.49). The mean value (SD) of the SUS score was 66.82 (14.54), corresponding to low usability.

Conclusions:

The DG does not significantly reduce the decisional conflict, though the results indicate that it helped the respondents to decide on dialysis modality. Attending a patient school and having a conversation about dialysis choice with a health professional is assumed to have had an impact on the decisional conflict before using the DG. The usability of the DG was not found to be sufficient, which might be caused by the respondents’ average age. Thus, the applicability of the DG cannot be definitively determined.