Mobile technology use and skills among individuals with fragile X syndrome: implications for healthcare decision making.
M Raspa, T Fitzgerald, R D Furberg and 5 others
PMID 30105880WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of individuals with fragile X syndrome reported high device ownership and frequent online health information seeking.
In-person assessments showed six adults could use basic tablet functions with prompting, but advanced navigation and typing proved difficult. Engagement was moderate for assessment tasks and high for familiar free-play apps.
Key findings
01Parents of individuals with fragile X syndrome reported that 92% looked up information about the condition online, and more than half shared health-related information on social networking sites or discussion groups.
02In-person assessments with six participants showed that while all could demonstrate simple interactions like tapping or dragging with minimal prompting, advanced skills such as accessing menus or typing were inconsistent, with half requiring support or failing to perform them.
03Participants showed moderate engagement with assessment apps but significantly higher engagement with free-play apps of their choice, such as weather or sports applications.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The survey sample was non-representative, skewed toward higher income and education levels, and responders differed from non-responders. The in-person assessment included only six participants, making it impossible to generalize the specific skill difficulties to the broader fragile X population. The study did not link the survey data to the in-person assessment data, so researchers could not determine if reported engagement levels matched observed skills. Parent-reported outcomes for the survey were not standardized, unlike the in-person assessments.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the six participants' specific skill deficits as a universal profile for fragile X syndrome. The small sample size and convenience recruitment mean these findings illustrate possible challenges with tablet interfaces, not proven prevalence of these difficulties.