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An Intelligent Individualized Cardiovascular App for Risk Elimination (iCARE) for Individuals With Coronary Heart
Yuling Chen1, Meihua Ji1,2, Ying Wu1
1School of Nursing, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Insights
The Intelligent Individualized Cardiovascular App for Risk Elimination (iCARE) app improves adherence to health behaviors and medication for coronary heart disease (CHD) patients. Usability testing confirmed iCARE is highly acceptable, useful, and easy to use.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular disease research
- Health informatics
- Behavioral science
Background:
- Coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality and disability can be reduced through improved risk factor management.
- Patient, provider, and health system interventions are necessary for adherence to evidence-based recommendations.
- Adherence to preventive care for CHD remains a significant challenge.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop the Intelligent Individualized Cardiovascular App for Risk Elimination (iCARE).
- To enhance patient adherence to health behaviors and preventive medications.
- To evaluate the usability of the iCARE application.
Main Methods:
- User-centered design approach encompassing function design, iterative design, expert inspections, and usability testing.
- Two-stage usability testing using the modified Health Information Technology Usability Survey (Health-ITUES).
- Inclusion of individuals with confirmed CHD diagnosis from university-affiliated hospitals in Beijing, China.
Main Results:
- Stage I usability testing (n=88) showed a mean usability score of 90.1, with 90% satisfaction and high ratings for usefulness (94%) and ease of use (82%).
- Stage II usability testing (n=61) after 6 months of app use yielded a mean usability score of 89.0, with 89% satisfaction and high perceived usefulness (93%).
- The iCARE app comprises a patient app, care provider app, and cloud platform with algorithms for tailored feedback and individualized interventions.
Conclusions:
- The iCARE app is an intelligent, individualized, evidence-based, and theory-driven tool.
- iCARE effectively supports patient adherence to health behaviors and medication management.
- The app demonstrated high acceptability, usefulness, and ease of use among individuals with CHD.
Background:
Death and disability from coronary heart disease (CHD) can be largely reduced by improving risk factor management. However, adhering to evidence-based recommendations is challenging and requires interventions at the level of the patient, provider, and health system.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to develop an Intelligent Individualized Cardiovascular App for Risk Elimination (iCARE) to facilitate adherence to health behaviors and preventive medications, and to test the usability of iCARE.
Methods:
We developed iCARE based on a user-centered design approach, which included 4 phases: (1) function design, (2) iterative design, (3) expert inspections and walkthroughs of the prototypes, and (4) usability testing with end users. The usability testing of iCARE included 2 stages: stage I, which included a task analysis and a usability evaluation (January to March 2019) of the iCARE patient app using the modified Health Information Technology Usability Survey (Health-ITUES); and stage II (June 2020), which used the Health-ITUES among end users who used the app for 6 months. The end users were individuals with a confirmed diagnosis of CHD from 2 university-affiliated hospitals in Beijing, China.
Results:
iCARE consists of a patient app, a care provider app, and a cloud platform. It has a set of algorithms that trigger tailored feedback and can send individualized interventions based on data from initial assessment and health monitoring via manual entry or wearable devices. For stage I usability testing, 88 hospitalized patients (72% [63/88] male; mean age 60 [SD 9.9] years) with CHD were included in the study. The mean score of the usability testing was 90.1 (interquartile range 83.3-99.0). Among enrolled participants, 90% (79/88) were satisfied with iCARE; 94% (83/88) and 82% (72/88) reported that iCARE was useful and easy to use, respectively. For stage II usability testing, 61 individuals with CHD (85% [52/61] male; mean age 53 [SD 8.2] years) who were from an intervention arm and used iCARE for at least six months were included. The mean total score on usability testing based on the questionnaire was 89.0 (interquartile distance: 77.0-99.5). Among enrolled participants, 89% (54/61) were satisfied with the use of iCARE, 93% (57/61) perceived it as useful, and 70% (43/61) as easy to use.
Conclusions:
This study developed an intelligent, individualized, evidence-based, and theory-driven app (iCARE) to improve patients' adherence to health behaviors and medication management. iCARE was identified to be highly acceptable, useful, and easy to use among individuals with a diagnosis of CHD.
Trial Registration:
Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR-INR-16010242; https://tinyurl.com/2p8bkrew.
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