Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Jun 23, 2025
Date Accepted: Dec 15, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited.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.
Preferences for Experience Sampling Method - based tool as an adjunct to usual treatment in patients with problem substance use: Qualitative study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Mobile health (mHealth) tools that use Experience Sampling Method (ESM) appear to be a promising tool to streamline and improve the treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs). However, patient involvement in the development of these tools is uncommon, and research on the preferences of people being treated for SUDs has been scarce. In the scope of the EU IMMERSE consortium, an ESM-based tool for Digital Mobile Mental Health (DMMH) was first co-developed and later tested in 4 European countries.
Objective:
This study aimed to achieve understanding the preferences on features of DMMH among mental health service users with problem substance use.
Methods:
In four EU countries, service users were recruited for a semi-structured qualitative interview, which started with the presentation of a prototype of the DMMH. Data analysis was performed through Directed qualitative content analysis.
Results:
The analytical sample consisted of 12 (five females, six males, and one non-binary person) participants with problem substance use aged 18-50 years. There were four participants from Slovakia, three from Belgium, three from Germany, and one from Scotland. Patient preferences were classified into seven categories: notifications, questions, user interface, functionality changes, visualizations, sharing data with clinician, and sharing data with others. The proposed intensive notification schedule was deemed acceptable by service users as long as the questionnaire is short. Participants expressed a preference for open-text response options, ecological momentary interventions, and options for individual customization of several elements of the tool. Data visualization was considered an important aid for communication with clinicians, with whom all participants wanted to share data obtained with DMMH. The possibility to share data with other people depended on the quality of the relationship with them.
Conclusions:
In the development of ESM-based mHealth tools for people with problem substance use, their preferences for content, functionality, and appearance of the tools should be considered so they match patient’s treatment needs.
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