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Development and Feasibility of a Mobile Asthma App for Children and Their Caregivers: Mixed Methods Study
Misa Iio1, Miori Sato2, Masami Narita3
1College of Nursing, Kanto Gakuin University, Yokohama, Japan.
Insights
A new mobile app shows good feasibility for supporting pediatric asthma self-management in children and their caregivers. The app, designed for ages 0-12, facilitates symptom tracking and engagement, aiding continuous care.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
- Digital Health Interventions
- Asthma Self-Management
Background:
- Limited research exists on mobile health apps for children over 7 years old with asthma.
- Existing asthma apps often overlook the crucial interaction between children and their caregivers.
- A novel asthma management app was developed for children aged 0-12 and their caregivers, addressing identified user needs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the feasibility of a newly developed mobile application for pediatric asthma self-management.
- To refine and finalize the application based on user feedback and feasibility assessments.
- To assess user engagement and satisfaction with the app's features.
Main Methods:
- Convergent mixed-methods approach involving quantitative app usage data and qualitative user feedback.
- Recruitment of pediatric patients with persistent asthma from multiple healthcare settings.
- Administration of questionnaires and user feedback sessions over 3- and 6-month periods.
Main Results:
- The
- record
- feature was most utilized by both children and caregivers.
- App access logs showed a decrease in usage over time, indicating potential engagement challenges.
- Qualitative analysis identified areas for improvement in app usability, including recording, settings, and motivational elements.
Conclusions:
- The developed mobile app demonstrates generally good feasibility for pediatric asthma self-management among children and caregivers.
- Specific features like 'record,' 'quiz,' and 'manga' were popular among older children (7-12 years).
- Continued efforts are necessary to maintain and enhance app quality for sustained user engagement and effective asthma management.
Background:
Mobile health apps can support the self-management of pediatric asthma. Previous studies on mobile apps for children aged >7 years with asthma are limited, and most reports on asthma apps do not consider interactions between the children and their caregivers. Therefore, we developed an asthma app for children aged 0-12 years and their caregivers based on the results of our previous study regarding user needs.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a developed mobile app for children with asthma and their caregivers and to modify and complete the app according to the feasibility results.
Methods:
We recruited children diagnosed with persistent asthma by an allergy specialist at 2 children's hospitals, 1 university hospital, 2 general hospitals, and 1 pediatric clinic. Thereafter, the app usage was assessed, and questionnaires were administered. This study used convergent mixed methods, including providing user feedback about the pediatric asthma app, completing questionnaire surveys regarding preferences, and obtaining quantitative data about app usage. Quantitative data were analyzed based on the ratings provided for the app features used by the participants, and the usage of the app features was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data were analyzed via a descriptive qualitative research analysis and were used to identify codes from the content-characteristic words.
Results:
In total, 30 pairs of children aged 2-12 years and their caregivers responded to the 3-month survey, and 20 pairs of children aged 4-12 years and their caregivers responded to the 6-month survey. In the 3- and 6-month surveys, "record" was the most commonly used feature by both caregivers and children. The average access logs per month among the 20 pairs ranged from 50 to 79 in the 6-month survey. The number of access logs decreased over time. In the qualitative results, app utilization difficulties were identified for 6 categories: record, preparing, alert settings, change settings, mobile phone owner, and display and motivation. Regarding app feasibility, 60% (12/20) of the caregivers strongly agreed or agreed for all evaluation items, while 63% (7/11) of the children strongly agreed or agreed for 6 items, excluding satisfaction. In the qualitative results, feasibility evaluation of the app was classified into 3 categories: high feasibility of the app, improvement points for the app, and personal factors preventing app utilization. Based on the results of the feasibility analysis, the final version of the app was modified and completed.
Conclusions:
The app feasibility among children with asthma and their caregivers was generally good. Children aged 7-12 years used elements such as record, quiz, and manga. This app can support the continuous self-management of pediatric asthma. However, efforts must be taken to maintain and improve the app quality.
Trial Registration:
UMIN Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000039058; https://tinyurl.com/3na9zyf8.
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