Currently submitted to: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Jan 11, 2025
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
The Acceptability Study of Heart Transplantation Self-Management Support mHealth Application (iHeart App) in Taiwan: Mix Method Approaches
ABSTRACT
Background:
Heart transplant patients (HTx) are expected to perform self- management behaviors to maximize transplant-related health outcomes. Using mobile health(m-Health) care applications could support disease self-management. Prior studies showed that mHealth information needs for HTx self-management were identified through: medical care related reminders, laboratory querying, experience sharing, diet and nutrition, and expert counseling.
Objective:
To develop and evaluate the application (iHeart App) acceptability, employing mixed methods including a Technology Acceptance Model of Mobile Services (TAMM) questionnaire, narrative pros and cons feedback, and log data analysis.
Methods:
Post HTx patients in northern Taiwan participated from April to July 2019. Six TAMM factors assessed perceived values, ease of use, adoption, trust, intention to use, and actual usage. Open-ended questions collected pros and cons feedback at baseline and one-month follow up. Log database analysis considered administering medication, blood pressure, and symptom self-recording over one year.
Results:
A total of 53 eligible patients participated, with a mean age of 48.9 years (SD=11.67); the average transplant time was 9.2 years (SD=6.93); mostly male (n=46, 86.8%); and with a high school degree (n=19, 35.8%). Participants had higher acceptance at baseline than one-month follow up in six TAMM perceived factors (mean of difference between 0.321and 0.582, p≦ .001). The number of positive feedbacks was more than the negative feedback (85 vs. 57) and mostly on perceived ease of use (42). The actual usage of iHeart App were high at first month on administering medication(n=740), blood pressure(n=348), and symptoms(n=20), respectively, but significantly decreased over the 12 months.
Conclusions:
The study showed that patients with HTx accepted iHeart App as the supportive technology to facilitate their self-management. The negative feedback and one-year actual usage analysis provided useful information to optimize the App on the communication with the health care professional team to sustain the long-term usage. Clinical Trial: IRB CHGH-IRB (669)107A-41
Citation
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