A Questionnaire for Assessing User Satisfaction With Mobile Health Apps: Development Using Rasch Measurement Theory

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Measurement Science

Background:

• Mobile health (mHealth) apps are increasingly used for lifestyle interventions and can function as medical devices.
• There is a need for validated instruments to assess user satisfaction with mHealth solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate the measurement properties of the mHealth Satisfaction Questionnaire.
• To assess user satisfaction with a specific mHealth app used for lifestyle changes.

Main Methods:

• The 14-item mHealth Satisfaction Questionnaire was administered to 112 participants using the Health Integrator smartphone app.
• Rasch measurement theory (RMT) was employed to evaluate the questionnaire's psychometric properties, including item fit, differential item functioning, and dimensionality.

Main Results:

• Optimal scoring involved collapsing response options into three categories. Two items were omitted due to poor fit.
• The scale demonstrated acceptable discrimination for group comparisons (Person Separation Index = 0.79) but not individual evaluations.
• The questionnaire was not strictly unidimensional, with three underlying dimensions identified: negative experiences, positive experiences, and lifestyle consequences.

Conclusions:

• The mHealth Satisfaction Questionnaire offers a novel tool for measuring user satisfaction to enhance mHealth app usability and development.
• Further validation with larger samples, additional items, and diverse mHealth apps is recommended.
• The study highlights the utility of RMT in evaluating digital health instruments.