Development and validation of Baritrip: a multidisciplinary educational mobile application for bariatric surgery...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Surgical Patient Care
• Health Literacy

Background:

• Bariatric surgery patients require enhanced health literacy and engagement for optimal outcomes.
• Existing digital tools may not adequately address the comprehensive needs of this patient population.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a mobile health application (mHealth App) named Baritrip.
• To improve health literacy and care engagement among patients undergoing bariatric surgery.

Main Methods:

• Patient needs assessment, literature review, and benchmarking informed app design by a multi-professional team.
• A prototype was developed and validated by healthcare specialists, IT professionals, and bariatric surgery patients.

Main Results:

• The Baritrip App features 188 screens across eight domains: clinical, surgical, nutritional, mental health, and speech therapy.
• Experts rated the app's content validity index at 0.99.
• Patients reported an 89.1% agreement rate regarding the app's layout, language, organization, and engagement.

Conclusions:

• The Baritrip mHealth App exhibits strong content validity and cultural appropriateness for bariatric surgery patients.
• This validated tool has the potential to significantly enhance patient understanding and involvement in their care pathway.