Designing a Mobile Health App for Patients With Dysphagia Following Head and Neck Cancer: A Qualitative Study.
Gabriela Constantinescu, Irene Loewen, Ben King and 3 others
PMID 28582245WHAT IT FOUND
Patients said fatigue, memory problems, treatment side effects and unclear progress made home swallowing exercises hard.
They wanted immediate, simple feedback, progress tracking, and no peer competition.
Key findings
01Participants said low energy, memory and focus problems, and feeling overwhelmed by information made home swallowing exercises hard.
02Appointments helped adherence by educating patients and providing accountability.
03Patients wanted immediate, simple biofeedback, progress over time, and competition with themselves rather than peers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only 10 patients recruited over 6 months, so the themes are not generalisable to all head and neck cancer patients. Three participants did not have prior home-based swallowing therapy and reflected on other rehabilitation exercises instead. Only 7 participants reported being prescribed home swallowing exercises, so some adherence accounts were about other rehabilitation or general swallowing difficulty. The researchers did not reach data saturation, so other themes may exist. The interviewer was a clinician with prior relationships with some patients and this was her first research interviewing, which may have shaped responses. Participants did not check the transcripts or findings, and the study could not measure how strongly each person held a preference.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this app improves swallowing or adherence; the study only asked patients about past home therapy and visual design preferences.