Development of a Mobile Application for the Self-Management of Spinal Cord Injury Patients: Identification and Analysis of Key Requirements.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Spinal cord injury causes numerous complications for those affected by this disability. Using mobile health tools to acquire self-management skills can help reduce these complications and improve the quality of life of people with spinal cord injury. Therefore, this study aimed to identify and analyze the key requirements, including data and functional requirements in developing a mobile application for self-management of spinal cord injury patients based on the perspectives of both patients and related specialists.

METHODS

A content analysis of previous studies and self-management guidelines for patients with spinal cord injury was conducted until January 2024. A researcher-made questionnaire was provided to 20 spinal cord injury patients and 20 specialists to extract key requirements, including data and functional requirements, to develop a mobile application for self-management of spinal cord injury. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 26 software.

RESULTS

The thematic categories of "educational information", "disease and complication management", and "patient profile" were identified as data requirements, whereas "technical capabilities" were categorized under functional requirements for a mobile application for self-management of spinal cord injury patients. The key requirements identified in the category of educational information had the highest average score, with a score of 4.63 out of 5, and the patient profile had the lowest average score, with a score of 4.46 out of 5.

CONCLUSIONS

The identified key requirements can be used as the first step in determining the educational content and design of a spinal cord injury self-management application.