Development and Feasibility of a Smartphone Application for Promoting Healthy Heart Behaviors Following Open-Heart...

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Digital Health
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Post-open-heart surgery recovery necessitates adherence to healthy behaviors for optimal outcomes.
• Traditional patient education methods may benefit from technological integration to enhance engagement and self-care.
• Mobile applications offer a potential avenue for supporting patient self-management in cardiac rehabilitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and assess the feasibility of the "Term-Jai" smartphone application.
• To promote healthy heart behaviors among patients recovering from open-heart surgery.
• To evaluate user engagement, experience, and usability of the application.

Main Methods:

• A 30-day mixed-methods study involving 13 open-heart surgery patients (age 44-78).
• Utilized the "Term-Jai" application, grounded in psychological theory.
• Assessed feasibility, engagement, usability (System Usability Scale), satisfaction, and healthy behaviors via questionnaires and interviews.

Main Results:

• The "Term-Jai" application demonstrated feasibility, with 70% participant engagement over 30 days.
• High usability (System Usability Scale score: 80.2 ± 10.3) and user satisfaction were reported.
• Participants found the app informative, leading to reported improvements in healthy behaviors and positive feedback on its design for cardiac rehabilitation.

Conclusions:

• The "Term-Jai" application is a feasible and promising tool for enhancing healthy behaviors post-open-heart surgery.
• The app exhibits good usability and high participant satisfaction, suggesting potential for integration into cardiac rehabilitation programs.
• Further refinements, particularly in technical support and personalized exercise progression, are recommended for broader implementation.