Abstract:
People with diabetes-related foot ulcers (DFUs) need to perform self-care consistently over many months to promote healing and to mitigate risks of hospitalisation and amputation. However, during that time, improvement in their DFU can be hard to detect. Hence, there is a need for an accessible method to self-monitor DFUs at home. We developed a new mobile phone app, \"MyFootCare\", to self-monitor DFU healing progression from photos of the foot. The aim of this study is to evaluate the engagement and perceived value of MyFootCare for people with a plantar DFU over 3 months\' duration. Data are collected through app log data and semi-structured interviews (weeks 0, 3, and 12) and analysed through descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Ten out of 12 participants perceive MyFootCare as valuable to monitor progress and to reflect on events that affected self-care, and seven participants see it as potentially valuable to enhance consultations. Three app engagement patterns emerge: continuous, temporary, and failed engagement. These patterns highlight enablers for self-monitoring (such as having MyFootCare installed on the participant\'s phone) and barriers (such as usability issues and lack of healing progress). We conclude that while many people with DFUs perceive app-based self-monitoring as valuable, actual engagement can be achieved for some but not for all people because of various facilitators and barriers. Further research should target improving usability, accuracy and sharing with healthcare professionals and test clinical outcomes when using the app.
摘要:
患有与糖尿病相关的足部溃疡(DFU)的人需要在数月内持续进行自我护理,以促进愈合并减轻住院和截肢的风险。然而,在此期间,他们的DFU的改善可能很难检测到。因此,需要一种在家中自监测DFU的可访问方法。我们开发了一个新的手机应用程序,\"MyFootCare\",从脚部的照片自我监控DFU的治疗进展。这项研究的目的是评估MyFootCare对足底DFU持续时间超过3个月的人的参与度和感知价值。通过应用程序日志数据和半结构化访谈(第0、3和12周)收集数据,并通过描述性统计和主题分析进行分析。12名参与者中有10人认为MyFootCare对监测进展和反思影响自我护理的事件很有价值。七名与会者认为这对加强磋商具有潜在的价值。出现了三种应用程序参与模式:连续、temporary,订婚失败。这些模式突出显示了自我监控的推动者(例如在参与者的电话上安装了MyFootCare)和障碍(例如可用性问题和缺乏治疗进展)。我们得出的结论是,尽管许多使用DFU的人认为基于应用程序的自我监控很有价值,由于各种促进者和障碍,某些人可以实现实际参与,但并非所有人都可以实现。进一步的研究应以提高可用性为目标,准确性和与医疗保健专业人员共享,并在使用该应用程序时测试临床结果。