Smartphone-Based Application for Self-Management of Patients With Colorectal Cancer: Development and Usability Evaluation Publisher Pubmed



Salmani H¹ ; Nahvijou A² ; Sheikhtaheri A^{1, 3}
Source: Supportive Care in Cancer Published:2022

Abstract

Purpose: Self-management is considered essential for improving the treatment and management of colorectal cancer patients. This study was conducted to develop and evaluate the usability of a smartphone-based application for the self-management of patients with colorectal cancer. Methods: We developed an Android-based application called “Colorectal Cancer Along (ColorectAlong)” for the self-management of colorectal cancer. Seventeen patients, from the Cancer Institute of Iran, evaluated the usability of this application for 2 weeks using a standard questionnaire for user interaction satisfaction (QUIS) version 5.5. The obtained data was analyzed using SPSS software version 26. Results: The ColorectAlong application was developed with features covering several areas of colorectal cancer self-management. The areas available for evaluation in the app are patient profile; medication management; nutrition and diet management; pain management; mental health; smoking cessation and alcohol reduction; educational content; and adding reminders, questions, and notes. Our results indicate that the usability of this application is good with an average QUIS score of 8.03 out of 9. Conclusion: The ColorectAlong application can improve self-management, assist patients, and facilitate access to required information without the need for internet access. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.