Note: Assessing Cancer Patient Usability of a Mobile Distress Screening App

Abstract

Despite the increase of accessibility and availability of technology in recent years, equality and access to health-related technology remains limited to certain demographics. In particular, patients who are older or from rural communities represent a large segment of people who are currently not utilizing electronic health solutions; and are considered medically underserved. Rural communities commonly have a higher rate of chronic disease and reduced access to providers; therefore, rural patients could benefit from the adoption of electronic health solutions such as mobile health apps. This pilot study explores the usability of the mobile iOS application, Assuage; designed for remote symptom monitoring in rural cancer patients and built using Apple’s ResearchKit, CareKit, and HealthKit frameworks. Two different interfaces for reporting symptoms are assessed using the System Usability Scale by fifteen (15) current and/or post surgery cancer patients.