The Study on the User Experiences of the M-Health Application "Swayam Diabetes Care" on Android Devices, Qualitative Testing of Its Usefulness and Utility for Self-Care Management of Type 2 Diabetes at Home Settings.

Abstract

The Swayam Diabetes Care mobile application was developed to facilitate self-care management for those with type 2 diabetes in an urbanhome setting. This Android-based mobile application was designed to keepthe user at the center of its design functionality and features. The development of Swayam Diabetes Care prioritized a user-centric approach, and qualitative sequential research was conducted with a sample size of n=18 participants. This study involved in-depth interviews and evaluated the initial version of the Swayam Diabetes Care application. The qualitative sequential study also received input from a sample of n=55 participants on the SUS globally tested tool on the usability and utility assessment of this application. For complete self-care management, the application was filled by n=250+ users. This application encompassed several aspects such as maintaining a daily diary, monitoring nutrition intake and food consumption, engaging in regular exercise, adhering to prescribed medication regimens, and utilizinginformation on nutrition informatics available with the app. The aim was to enhance adherence to self-care activities related to self-care management. This study aims to identify the key characteristics that users consider relevant in the self-care management application "Swayam Diabetes Care." To evaluate the program, they employed the well-recognized System Usability Scale (SUS) tool for the evaluation of the usability of this application. This article presents findings from a study that utilized qualitative research methodology, specifically in-depth interviews (IDIs), to gather data from a sample of 18 participants. Out of the total sample size n=18, 10 individuals identified as male, accounting for 55% of the participants, while 8 individuals identified as female, constituting 45% of the participants. The participants, who had an average age of 50 years (standard deviation = 14), were individually interviewed utilizing the IDI technique.Among the sample of n=18 participants, most respondents, exceeding 40%, reported having type 2 diabetes for a duration of fewer than five years. Additionally, eight participants, representing 35% of the sample, reported having the condition for a period ranging from five to ten years. Furthermore, three respondents, constituting 20% of the sample, reported having type 2 diabetes for more than ten years. Three themes were found in qualitative research based on the analysis of the interview data.Thestudy resulted in the identification of three overarching qualitative themes and the impact of different diabetic self-management features, individuals' requirements, preferences, and expectations, and elements that influence users' degree of engagement with the designed application, highlighting the need for personalized features rather than generic features of the m-health application.