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User-Centered Development of an Online Platform for Drug Dosing Recommendations in Pediatrics

Wolfgang Rödle1, Stefan Wimmer2, Julia Zahn2

  • 1Department of Medical Informatics, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Erlangen, Germany.

Applied Clinical Informatics
|August 8, 2019
PubMed

Insights

A new online platform for pediatric drug dosing is in demand by healthcare professionals in Germany. The developed prototype received positive usability ratings and highlighted the need for features like dosage calculators.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric pharmacology
  • Health informatics
  • Drug safety

Background:

  • Pediatric drug therapy requires dosage adjustments due to growth and varying enzyme activity.
  • Germany lacks a publicly accessible database for evidence-based pediatric drug dosages.
  • A prototype online platform for pediatric dosing information was developed at Children's Hospital, Erlangen.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the demand for an online pediatric dosing platform.
  • To evaluate the usability of the developed system's prototypes.

Main Methods:

  • A user-centered design process was employed.
  • The prototype underwent a pluralistic walkthrough with end-users.
  • The second prototype was evaluated via online usability testing using a tailored questionnaire and the System Usability Scale (SUS).

Main Results:

  • Eleven of 12 participants confirmed a demand for the online platform.
  • Users requested features like drug-drug interaction alerts, adverse effect information, and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic data.
  • A significant demand for an online dosage calculator (based on age, weight, body surface area, and glomerular filtration rate) was identified.
  • The second prototype achieved a median SUS score of 81.25, indicating good to excellent usability.

Conclusions:

  • Local domain experts strongly desire an online platform for pediatric dosing recommendations.
  • The user-centered approach resulted in a practical prototype.
  • Key functionalities identified include an online calculator for patient-specific dosing.
Abstract

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