Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Human Factors
Date Submitted: Oct 30, 2020
Date Accepted: Jul 4, 2021
User Experience in Applying Mobile Technology to Sustain Physical Activity after Completion of Cardiac Rehabilitation: The Mobile4Heart Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Many patients do not meet recommended levels of physical activity after cardiac rehabilitation (CR) discharge. Wearable activity trackers and mobile phone apps are promising potential self-management tools to maintain physical activity after CR discharge.
Objective:
To evaluate the usability of the Movn mobile application (app) with Fitbit® devices to facilitate physical activity following CR discharge.
Methods:
We applied a mixed-methods design including content analysis with emphasis on the usability of technology by conducting individual interviews and a quantitative satisfaction scale after participation in a pilot randomized controlled trial. We enrolled participants from three CR centers at a community hospital. Intervention patients wore the Fitbit® Charge 2, used the Movn mobile app, and received push-messages on cardiovascular disease prevention and physical activity over 2 months. We asked 26 participants in the intervention group for feedback about their experience with the technology and conducted semi-structured individual interviews with 7 representative participants.
Results:
Participants (mean age 66.7 ± 8.6, 23% female, N=26) had positive experiences using a wearable activity tracker and mobile app after CR. There were varying levels of satisfaction with the different technology components, identifying some limitations and areas of improvements.
Conclusions:
By applying wearable activity trackers and mobile phone apps, our study shows strong potential for new technologies to be adopted by older adults with CVD to maintain physical activity after CR discharge. Clinical Trial: Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03446313
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