A Fall Risk mHealth App for Older Adults: Development and Usability Study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Digital Health
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Falls are a primary cause of injury-related mortality in older adults.
• Objective fall risk screening is underutilized in clinical settings due to various constraints.
• Smartphones present a viable platform for at-home fall risk screening for seniors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a mobile health (mHealth) application for assessing fall risk.
• To evaluate the usability of this fall risk mHealth app among healthy older adults.

Main Methods:

• Developed a fall risk app incorporating a health history questionnaire and five mobility tasks.
• Employed an iterative design-evaluation process with two rounds of semistructured interviews.
• Assessed app usability via interviews and the System Usability Scale (SUS) on smartphones and tablets.

Main Results:

• Initial interviews revealed challenges with balance task instructions but highlighted perceived usefulness and ease of use.
• Post-modification, participants reported high ease of use and usefulness in understanding their fall risk.
• System Usability Scale (SUS) scores ranged from 79 to 84, indicating high usability with minimal differences between smartphone and tablet use.

Conclusions:

• The developed fall risk mHealth app demonstrated high usability among older adults.
• App design for older adults should prioritize clear instructions and preventative health strategies.
• Smartphones can be effective for fall risk assessment in older adults if designed to accommodate age-related sensory changes, enabling home-based screening.