Development and Evaluation of a Self-Care Smartphone Application for Cirrhotic Patients

Abstract

Background: It is generally accepted that cirrhosis is a global health problem, and cirrhoticpatients need to perform self-care activities. Smartphone applications are effective tools for the self-management education of diseases. Aim: This study aimed to develop a self-care smartphone application for cirrhotic patients. Method: This study was conducted to develop a mobile application to provide cirrhotic patients with self-care management. The application was designed using two educational models of Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation as well as Driscoll and Alexander models. Its efficiency was evaluated by 5 software technicians and 74 cirrhotic patients. The tools utilized in this study included heuristics and the Mobile Application Rating Scales. The evaluation results were employed to modify the application and prepare a final version. Results: An android application was developed under the name of "My Liver" in this study. The results of experts' evaluation included 12 corrective suggestions that were applied to the development of the application. According to the participants' evaluation, aesthetics (68.60%) and engagement (71.36%) received the first- and second-lowest scores, respectively. However, the items that obtained the highest scores included the adaptation of content to the user requirements, ease of use, suitable quality and quantity of information, the presence of visual information, validity and acceptability, and evidence-based content. The star grading indicated a relatively high quality of this application. Implications for Practice: Smartphone applications can be useful tools for cirrhotic patients to perform self-care without the direct presence of the nurse.