Developing and evaluation a self-management mobile application for MS patients

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Multiple sclerosis is one of the most common neurological disorders in the world and is the main cause of disability in young people, with increasing prevalence in the world. Objectives: Considering the importance of the subject, the purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate a self-management application for MS patients. Material and Methods: The present study was carried out in a multidimensional manner in the form of three goals. At first, the information needs of MS patients for self-management of the disease was determined in three steps, the extraction of needs based on guidelines and guides, Reviewing the content and description of existing MS self-management applications and conducting semi-structured interviews with MS patients. The initial content was prepared after final approval by the experts. Then, how to present the final content in the application was determined and the application was developed. Finally, the developed application was evaluated from the perspective of users. Results: The findings reported that the user rating average for the application in a one to five-point scale was 3.55. also, 85% of users stated that they would recommend the application to others. In addition, the findings of the application evaluation from the two dimensions of user-friendly and the impact of the use of the app, from the view of the participants, indicated that the user-friendly of the application are in the best position. In the impact dimension of the application, the findings reported that increasing awareness of self-management and control of MS at the moderate level and change the behavior of users in some dimensions. Conclusion: The findings of the study showed that self-management applications can attract patients and their active participation in MS control.