Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: May 27, 2019
Open Peer Review Period: May 30, 2019 - Jul 3, 2019
Date Accepted: Aug 13, 2019
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
A scale to assess the methodological quality of studies assessing usability of eHealth products: a delphi study followed by validity and reliability testing
ABSTRACT
Background:
Usability of ehealth and mhealth applications is of paramount importance as it impacts the quality of care. Methodological quality assessment is common practice in the field of health for for different designs and type of studies. However, we were unable to find a scale to assess the methodological quality of studies assessing usability of eHealth products or services.
Objective:
The aims of this study were to develop a scale to assess the methodological quality of studies assessing usability and to perform a preliminary analysis of its reliability and construct validity.
Methods:
A 3-rounds Delphi panel was used to generate a pool of items considered important when assessing the quality of studies on usability. These items were used to write the scale and the guide to assist its use. The scale was then used to assess the quality of studies on usability of mobile application for physical activity and assessed in terms of feasibility, inter-rater reliability and construct validity.
Results:
Twenty-five experts participated in the Delphi panel and a 15-iten scale was developed. This scale was shown to be feasible (mean±sd time of application=13.10±2.59 minutes), reliable (ICC=0.81; 95% CI=0.55-0.93) and able to discriminate between low- and high-quality studies (high quality: mean±sd= 9.22±0.36; low quality: mean±sd= 6.86±0.80; p=0.011).
Conclusions:
The scale developed can be used both to assess the methodological quality of usability studies as well as to inform its planning. Clinical Trial: not applicable
Citation
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