Development of Goal-Achievement Support App to Assist Children and Families in Participating in Meaningful Occupations: Content Validation Using Delphi Method.
Koki Kura, Jumpei Oba, Satoru Amano and 1 others
PMID 40835401WHAT IT FOUND
Ten pediatric occupational therapists rated the wording, screens, and usability of a new home-support app as acceptable after two rounds.
This is not evidence that the app helps children or parents achieve goals.
Key findings
01COSMO is a prototype smartphone app for parents to use between pediatric occupational therapy sessions.
02All 27 items reached consensus in the first round, and the average score was 4.50; in the second round, the average score was 4.84.
03Experts asked for simpler wording and less burdensome input, and the team made free-text and evaluation entries optional.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Children and parents were not included in the app development process. The 10 experts were recruited through the researchers' networks and came from a limited number of regions, so their views may not represent other practice settings. The study tested expert ratings of app content. It did not test whether families used the app or whether children achieved goals. The quality of COSMO as a mobile app is currently unknown. Only the Japanese version was developed, and the implementation discussion is based on Japanese outpatient therapy.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest were declared, and the paper does not report a funding source.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the high expert ratings as evidence that the app improves children's or parents' outcomes. The study only asked 10 occupational therapists to rate the app's wording, screens, and usability. The study did not include children or parents as users, and it did not measure goal achievement.