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Usability of a self‐administered geriatric assessment mHealth : Cross‐sectional study in a geriatric clinic
Author(s) -
Rasheedy Doha,
Mohamed Hebattullah Elshazly,
Saber Heba Gamal,
Hassanin Hany Ibrahim
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
geriatrics and gerontology international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1447-0594
pISSN - 1444-1586
DOI - 10.1111/ggi.14122
Subject(s) - mhealth , medicine , usability , geriatrics , test (biology) , cross sectional study , health care , face validity , family medicine , nursing , psychometrics , clinical psychology , psychiatry , computer science , psychological intervention , economics , biology , economic growth , paleontology , pathology , human–computer interaction
Aim mHealth can facilitate comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) in countries with limited geriatric healthcare facilities. It can compensate for the lack of trained geriatricians and integrate CGA in different healthcare disciplines leading to better clinical outcomes. This study assessed the usability of a self‐administered geriatric assessment smartphone application. Methods A cross‐sectional study included participants from the geriatric clinic at Ain Shams University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt. This study was performed in three phases: development and validation of an abbreviated geriatric assessment tool, and validation of the application prototype. Twenty subjects were recruited for pretesting the abbreviated assessment tool, then another 50 patients to validate this tool in a face‐to‐face interview. Afterwards, another 12 patients completed the prototype followed by a standardized office visit interview. Each assessment domain was evaluated in agreement with a valid reference test during the clinical interview. Results The application was simple and user friendly. The scores of each domain correlated to the reference test scores (rho = 0.59–0.93). Most of the domains exhibited good agreement with the reference tests (kappa = 0.68–1.00) (except for frailty and nutritional assessment). Conclusions The mHealth geriatric assessment is possible and highly desirable during physical distancing and beyond. Obviously, this approach cannot substitute for clinical examination and multidisciplinary standard CGA. However, it may overcome some barriers facing the geriatrization of medicine. It would help general practitioners to provide pre‐CGA evaluation, particularly in areas with limited access to formal geriatric healthcare services. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2021; 21: 222–228 .